Literature in History
by apriiil
Summary: There was a certain blonde in a certain sorority house that had Bickslow's attention, whether she wanted it or not. Lucy's problem, though, was that she hadn't anticipated actually falling for the guy. He was supposed to be the idiot who drove her up the wall and hated, and she was supposed to be the girl he chased, but nothing ever really goes to plan for Lucy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _So does anyone remember that GaLe college one-shot I did a while ago? Probably not. Anyway, after writing that, I decided that I wanted to do the BixLu side of that story (I can hear you all collectively groaning), and that's what this is. It was originally going to be a two/three-shot or something like that, but I think it will work better as a shorter series since I can properly tell the story of how Bickslow annoyed Lucy into liking him, and everything that follows._

 _This will tie in with the Sorority Parties Aren't All Bad story, and I've done my best to make sure details will follow over._

* * *

There was only one thing Bickslow liked about staying on campus for every single holiday, and that was the amount of parties there were. Every single sorority and fraternity house on the row held one for every single holiday (even Easter for fuck's sake, not that Bickslow ever complained about the girls who all dressed up as bunnies), and Bickslow made it his mission to attend as many as he could.

It was never like he had anything else to do anyway. His father had been out of the picture since he was a kid and his mother was a lecturer at the university who was almost always found in her office, rather than her house just off the campus grounds. Bickslow had just never been one for holidays at all either. After his dad left just before Christmas to go and be with his then twenty-one-year-old girlfriend, Bickslow had never really liked celebrating the holidays (or any holiday at all) like any normal family would, and neither did his mum.

After that, they'd started doing their own little thing. Most of the time, Christmas specifically ended with them sitting on the lounge watching bad Christmas movies and eating Chinese takeout. They had the tree still, and they still did the presents thing on Christmas morning, but they never did the whole Christmas dinner part with the entire family coming over. In truth, they just didn't have any other family to spend it with, but that was still fine. His grandparents on his mother's side had passed away when he'd been a baby, and his mother had been an only child. He still had his aunts, uncles, and grandparents (and even a great-grandmother who was apparently still alive to that very day) on his dad's side, but his mother had wanted to just get away from all of them after having her heart broken, so they'd packed up all of their things and moved to Fiore from Seven, and settled in the (mostly) quiet town of Magnolia.

He still wouldn't have changed how he spent his Christmases for anything in the entire world, and even to that day, he still ate terrible takeout on Christmas.

As Bickslow had grown up though, and after his mother had started teaching at the university in Hargeon, things changed. At first, his mother had only been doing the one lecture a week since he'd only just started high school at the time and she'd felt guilty about leaving him for too long, just because she was all he had. But then, as Bickslow went through high school and neared his senior year and became more independent, she started teaching more classes and doing more lectures once the major had become more popular, and before long, Bickslow only saw her a few days a week if he was lucky.

It hadn't been all bad, though. Bickslow knew his mum loved teaching, and he honestly didn't mind that she worked so much. They had a comfortable life and she was doing something that made her happy, and being that she was the only person in the world he'd had since he'd been eight, her happiness was what made him happy.

But by the time Bickslow was graduating high school and about to start university, he rarely saw his mother, and for the first time in ten years, he'd been sitting on their lounge at home eating Chinese takeout and watching lame Christmas movies by himself. He still hadn't minded though. Not really, anyway. Sure, it sucked a little bit, but Bickslow had always understood that his mother had always been a very busy woman. She still loved what she did though, even if that was spending her Christmas night (and most other nights) in her office grading papers.

After that, Bickslow had finally started university in the new year after Summer, and he'd moved into the dorms (only to have the misfortune of having his high school best friend as his roommate. He loved Gajeel, because he was like his brother, but he'd known sharing a small room with him for the next four or more years was going to be a struggle) while his mother bought a house that was close by (close enough to walk to the main campus every morning and every night). By that point though, she was already teaching three different classes within the same major – seven lectures a week and a whole lot of papers to grade. The only downside to teaching a course that dealt with a lot of writing was that, but still, she loved it.

His first year in university had ended much the same as it had done the previous year – his mother had been too swamped with marking her students' papers to do anything (including Bickslow's paper, considering he'd taken her Literature in History class when he hadn't decided on a major and was doing a whole bunch of random units) and Bickslow had sat in his dorm room with Gajeel eating takeout and playing Call of Duty. It was then that Bickslow realised just what went on during the holidays. A whole lot of people went home for the holidays, but there was still a surprising amount of people who stayed. After all, it was the largest university in Fiore apart from the one in Crocus, and a lot of people had families on opposite sides of the country.

To make up for the loneliness, parties were held. They ranged from small get-togethers that mostly got crashed, to full-on parties that had the campus security getting called when someone ended up jumping from the roof of a frat house and into the pool.

By his second year on campus, Bickslow realised it was the only good thing about not having anywhere else to go for the holidays. He would probably still sit in his room late at night with Gajeel eating takeout on Christmas that year, just because he was his best friend and the guy loathed his family (or most of it. He really only got along with his brother, but he was still in high school), and as much as he made it seem like he liked being alone, he didn't mind the company. But they started going to some of the parties just so they had something else to do.

New Year's, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas… If it was anything close to being a holiday, there was at least one out of control party somewhere on campus. Of course, they really did happen to mostly be on the sorority and fraternity row, but there were the odd ones with the arts students getting drunk and high in a park somewhere. Bickslow had found those to be quite boring.

Without a doubt though, Bickslow's favourite sort-of holiday had always been Halloween. Valentine's Day parties were just a way for him to get laid, much like Easter, New Year's and Christmas had always been. But Halloween? Halloween he'd always loved. Even as a kid, it had been his favourite time of the year. Maybe it was because his birthday happened to fall on Halloween, or maybe it because he had an affinity for all things creepy and spooky (and girls in sexy costumes).

It was on his twenty-first birthday, also Halloween, and nearing the end of his _third_ year of college (though only second in his major, given his first year was a waste of time where he dabbled in a lot of weird courses), where Bickslow was once again found wandering the crowded sorority row with Gajeel and searching for their first party of the evening. The semester hadn't ended, given that it was only Halloween, so there were plenty more options compared to Christmas and even Thanksgiving.

"What sorority is that girlfriend of yours in again?" Bickslow asked as he grinned at the group of girls in their costumes walking past himself and Gajeel, his head turning over his shoulder just to get a second look at them.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you she's not my girlfriend?"

"Oh, come on, dude. You totally like her and you have since the first day of classes."

"I have not." Gajeel sidestepped a totally inebriated male who just about stumbled into him, and glared up at Bickslow with his wide grin. Sure, he might have thought the small blue-haired woman who had accidentally walked into one of his lectures on the first day of classes for that year was pretty cute, but he'd only talked to her a handful of times in the nearly eight months he'd known of her existence when he'd run into her either in the library (a lot of the times he'd seen her had been in the library) or in a coffee shop bright and early in the morning, or at some ungodly hour in the middle of the night. He hadn't even known her name until the third time he'd seen her in the coffee shop at two o'clock in the morning and he'd heard her name being called out to get her order.

The fact that he did like her just a little bit, and that Bickslow knew that fact, was more than a little annoying. Gajeel didn't even know how he'd found out in the first place. It wasn't like they ever talked about girls they liked or anything like that (or at least, Gajeel never did, because that was gross), because neither of them had ever actually had girlfriends in high school. They'd been to enough parties (and Bickslow had hosted enough of his own, given that his mother was quite often in Hargeon) to definitely be far from virgins and been drunk enough to talk about their hook ups, and there'd been the few times where Bickslow had sat down with him after school and talked about some girl who had his fancy that week, but they just didn't really _talk_ about it. Gajeel would mostly grunt and ignore him and go back to studying on the rooftop of their school. He'd needed the grades to get in to college, after all.

But Gajeel could only remember bringing up Levy once, and that had been after she'd hit him over the head with a book. Or, she claims she dropped it since she'd been on a ladder in the library and trying to get a dust-covered tome from a shelf that wasn't all that high up, but Gajeel was convinced otherwise. He hadn't mentioned anything about liking her in the slightest, so he just had no idea how Bickslow had figured that out. Surely it wasn't that obvious.

"And… Even if I did happen to like her," Gajeel began slowly as they walked up the lawn of one particular pink and white sorority house (why it had to have pink on it, neither really knew) that looked to be where the hotspot was that night, even if it was a Tuesday. "I still only know her first name, not her life fuckin' story, so I have no idea what sorority she's in, if she's in one at all."

"She'll be in one."

"You don't know that."

"I do." Bickslow hadn't even met the girl, or at least, he couldn't remember meeting or sleeping with someone with her description, but he was sure she was in one of the sororities. Every sorority needed a bookworm, after all. "But we'll find your little girlfriend—"

Gajeel groaned as he pushed the blue-and-black haired man through the door and into the crowded entryway of the house. "She's not my fuckin' girlfriend."

"—Later," Bickslow finished with a chuckle, squeezing through a gap between two girls – one in a toga, not surprisingly, and the other dressed as a sexy maid - with a wink at one of them. "Because now, it is the time to drink, my friend."

* * *

Bickslow watched in amusement as Natsu stood on top of the marble counter in the centre of the large kitchen and waved a sparkler around. He'd known the guy since high school, given that Natsu had graduated the year after himself and Gajeel. Though they'd never exactly been the best of friends (half of Gajeel's expulsions had been because he'd gotten in too many fights with Natsu, and Bickslow had been stupid enough to get involved), they were still _sort of_ friends. Natsu had always shown up at his parties when he had them, usually with Gray in tow, and the two were mostly seen drunkenly tossing insults at each other one minute, and then making out and heading up the stairs to go fuck each other senseless the next. Bickslow always made a point of washing his sheets more than once before he slept in it again after his parties though.

It wasn't all that surprising that they'd ended up at Hargeon together for college, either, since that's where almost everyone went unless they went off to Crocus, to a neighbouring town with the next largest university, or stayed in Magnolia to go to the community college. But what was surprising (to Bickslow, at least) was that Natsu and Gray were still actually _dating_. They hated each other, and if Natsu wasn't fighting with Gajeel, then he was fighting with Gray.

But hey, the make-up sex is probably all worth it, Bickslow realised, because no matter how much they argued and hated each other, they did love each other, and they'd been together for the upside of four years. They were pretty good together, surprisingly.

From where Bickslow stood towards the back of the room though, only slowly sipping his cheap beer (the sorority girls had the worst taste), he could see Gray scowling at Natsu, not surprisingly, and Gajeel was off somewhere doing god knows what. Last time Bickslow had seen him, he'd seen him heading upstairs, apparently to go and find a certain bookworm.

"I swear to god, Natsu. If you don't get down, I'm going to actually set you on fire."

Bickslow looked around and over the people in front of him when he heard the woman's voice over the music and the cheering, and he arched an eyebrow as he tried to find who the voice had come from. Whoever she was, Bickslow liked her already. Not many people could tame Natsu, and given that the pink-haired man suddenly had a look of sudden horror on his face as he extinguished the sparkler, Bickslow was sure that the woman was absolutely amazing to make him look like that. He'd only ever met one other person in his entire life who could do that – Erza Scarlet – and knowing her, she'd be off studying for her finals instead of getting wasted (and laid. He felt a little sorry for her boyfriend, but he too, was in his senior year) in the middle of the week.

"Oh, Lucy!" Natsu grinned as he turned suddenly on the counter to see the blonde woman coming up through the sea of laughing bodies, her hands on her hips as she glowered up at him from below him. "You made it!"

"Because I live here, you moron!" she shouted.

Natsu lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck as he slowly climbed down from the counter. "Oh yeah. Whoops."

Bickslow chuckled to himself as he waded through the drunken crowd and further into the kitchen. With Natsu's friend, Lucy, having taken away their main source of entertainment, everyone was spreading out and heading back into various rooms of the large house for other sources of entertainment. Gray was suddenly pulling his pyromaniac of a boyfriend away while muttering about how he was going to going to end up getting himself kicked out by the time he'd even get a chance to finish his first year because he would have set fire to one or more of the sorority or frat houses, and the blonde went over to the large fridge after gently shoving someone who he knew to be called Cana out of the way so she could get a bottle of water out.

Lucy didn't quite understand how everyone could so easily forget that it was a _Tuesday_. It wasn't like she didn't mind the parties, because on the odd occasion, she would definitely be out somewhere having fun with her friends and sisters. It was just that she had a paper due at eight o'clock the next morning, and exams were just a little over a month away anyway. Surely _Tuesday_ was not the best time for everyone to be getting blind drunk. She couldn't even begin to imagine how empty the morning lectures would be on Wednesday morning.

Bickslow waited until the kitchen was mostly empty and a little quieter before he finally went up to her. By then, she was only silently going around the large kitchen and cleaning up all of the empty plastic cups and glass bottles that were littered around on every surface, and it was only accompanied by the odd quiet sigh. She hated the mess after the parties, and being new, she was always one of the ones made to clean it up.

"Why don't you relax a little and have some fun?" Bickslow chuckled as he pried an empty bottle from her hand and leant against the counter. "It's a party, cosplay girl."

Lucy sighed as she glanced up to the grinning man beside her, and she snatched the bottle back before dropping it into the bin in the cupboard. She'd heard some of her sisters in the sorority talk about a guy with a strange blue mohawk who was notorious for being a jackass and a player, and she was absolutely certain this was the same man. "I can't relax or have fun, because I have an essay due in the morning and I need to get it done, but everyone is too busy partying," she argued. Her eyes narrowed as she kicked the cupboard door shut and picked up her bottle of water again before she said, "And I have a name, you know. It's Lucy, and I'm _not_ a _cosplay girl_. I'm not even dressed up at all!"

"Oh, I already knew your name because of Natsu, and you look dressed up to me…" Okay, so maybe she wasn't dressed up for Halloween, only wearing black yoga pants and a burgundy shirt with the university's logo, and that would make sense considering she'd said she was trying to get her paper done, but he could still tease her just a little bit.

Of course, it wasn't like Bickslow could talk about her not dressing up, because he hadn't either. He might love it when girls did, because half the time, they wore little to no clothing. But never would he ever dress up. He wasn't a cosplayer in any way, shape, or form, regardless of how many anime or gaming conventions he'd been to as a teenager.

"Then why don't you use my name instead of giving me a terrible one?"

Bickslow shrugged as his grin remained in place. He liked this blonde. Aside from the fact she was hot as hell, he liked the little he'd seen of her attitude so far. "Because I'm thinking Cosplayer is far better than Lucy. What kind of name is Lucy, anyway?"

"Excuse me?" Lucy gawked at the man before her as she folded her arms. Who did this guy think he was? _Ugh, college guys_. Lucy had been there all of three months, having only started that semester in the fall after taking time off, and she was already convinced the guys only managed to get a whole lot worse. More attractive, but just a whole lot worse. "Lucy is a nice name, thank you very much! I'm sure it's better than yours, whatever the hell that is." _Oh god… He probably has a really mundane name though… Like Jack… Or Tom…_

"It's Bickslow, Cosplayer."

 _Bickslow?! What the hell kind of name is_ _ **Bickslow**_ _? A pretty cool name, but still…_ "Well, I don't like it."

His tongue lolled from his mouth as another amused chuckle left, and he folded his own arms while leaning against the counter. He liked this cosplayer. He liked her a lot. "No?"

"No," she insisted. Lucy could see that her new nickname was just a massive joke as far as her lack of Halloween costume was concerned, but even so, she needed one for this jackass of a guy before her. The only problem was that she couldn't think of one that was horrible. Blue and black hair, stupid grin, red eyes… _Red eyes! That's it!_ "I think I like Voldemort better." Her lips twisted into a small smirk that only made his eyes flash with something she felt she should be frankly terrified of.

Lucy's smug smirk was lost as Bickslow – or Voldemort, as he would now be named – suddenly threw his head back as he began to almost cackle in the middle of the kitchen. "Voldemort? Really?" he laughed. Sure, he got the joke, but he didn't expect it in the slightest. He didn't expect her to give him a goddamn nickname, but holy hell, did he love it.

"Yes, _Dark Lord_ ," she smirked. "That's your new name."

Bickslow shrugged as he only took a single step forward. _Dark Lord… Oh, I like the sound of that…_ "Alright, Cosplayer."

Lucy only glowered at that stupid grin on his face for another second before she unfolded her arms and reached out to her grab her bottle of water again. She didn't understand the guy at all. Shouldn't he be irritated that she'd given him the name of a villain? Oh, she just didn't know. What she did know, though, was that the guy was quite possibly insane, and she wasn't sure why she hadn't just rolled her eyes and walked away to go back upstairs to work on her paper.

She'd only come downstairs to get a drink in the first place, not to tell Natsu to get down from the counter (her sorority sisters had made Lucy promise she'd keep an eye on Natsu after he'd set fire to the curtains in one of the bathroom's just two months earlier, otherwise he'd be totally banned from the house), and definitely not to end up standing in the kitchen with He Who Shall Not Be Named.

She may have lived in a sorority house, but she still valued her education quite a bit and would rather get good grades and use her brains, rather than use her assets later in life to get her somewhere. She wasn't that kind of girl, like she'd realised half of the other _fake_ blondes in her house were. Not that it really mattered, of course. It was better than the dorms, that was for sure, and she'd only joined because of Levy in the first place.

She had things to do, papers to write, and people to avoid. Bickslow specifically. She was only just now regretting not listening to Levy's words about making sure to get her paper done earlier in the term. Stepping away from the counter, her bottle held in one hand, Lucy quickly said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an essay to finish, and there's only so much headphones can block out, so good night."

"Have fun, Cosplayer," he chuckled. He could only continue to watch the short blonde slowly make her way out into the crowded hall, disappearing within the sea of mingling humans for a moment who were all too busy grinding and doing god knows what else, before Bickslow saw her slowly making her way up the stairs. He couldn't help but laugh quietly to himself when he saw her stumble over a couple making out on the stairs before he couldn't see her anymore.

Just like that though, Bickslow was sure he needed to go and find Gajeel again, just so he could tell him he was sure he'd fallen in love. Well… Maybe not, but he definitely liked her. She was surprisingly feisty and she had tamed Natsu, and he definitely wanted to talk to her again.

Telling Gajeel he'd fallen in love with the feisty blonde from the sorority who matched him would have to wait though. First, he'd have to go find his dear old friend Natsu. Bickslow needed to know more about his blonde cosplayer, and Natsu would surely know where he could find her.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Ah, so that's the first chapter! The story of how Bickslow met Lucy and how she got her name (and his, which I really couldn't help myself with)._

 _Since this one will be shorter than my others and the chapters should be a lot shorter than some of my others have been, I should be able to get this updated a lot more frequently than some of my others (but no guarantees)._

 _As a point of reference in case anyone was wondering, Bickslow and Gajeel are 21. Natsu and Gray are 20. Lucy and Levy are 19. This is currently set at the end of the year **before** the SPAAB one-shot is set, so the ages in that are all about the same. Don't worry though, this story will eventually get up to that point in time, so if you haven't read the other one-shot, then it's not the end of the world._

 _I hope you enjoy this! Please remember to review/favourite/follow if you can - I'd love to know what you guys think of it so far!_

 _Until next time._

 _\- April_


	2. Chapter 2

Wednesday morning came around sooner than everyone expected, and as Bickslow slowly and sluggishly made his way towards his class for that morning, he wasn't the least bit surprised to see that the campus wasn't anywhere near as crowded as it usually was, with plenty of people ditching their morning classes to stay in a dark room and sleep away their hangovers.

Bickslow wished he could be one of the lucky ones doing that. His head was pounding and he felt like utter crap following his night, but he hadn't expected anything less. It was Halloween and his twenty-first birthday. There was just no scenario that existed where he wouldn't have ended up completely smashed and stumbling out of Cana's room in the same sorority house as the party he'd been to in the early hours of that morning. The brunette was always fun to mess around with, and when he couldn't be bothered looking for someone else to screw, he always went to Cana, just because she was always willing.

When he'd gotten back to his dorm that morning just to nap, shower, and get changed, the temptation to do exactly what Gajeel was doing was far too strong. Damn the guy and all of his afternoon classes. Granted, Bickslow's classes were all late morning at the very least, but on Wednesdays… Well, not anymore. On Wednesdays, he had another class to go to now, and even when he was hungover, he was going to go.

After Lucy had disappeared back up the stairs, Bickslow hadn't seen her again for the rest of the night. Not even when he'd been leaving that morning. After meeting her though, he'd instantly gone and found Natsu and Gray to find out more about her. It had taken a little bit to get them to stop arguing and actually listen to him, but he'd got through eventually. And when they'd only told him that she was majoring in English and Literature and just happened to be taking a few classes that he knew for certain his mother taught…

Bickslow had quickly realised that he could use that to his advantage.

So that's where Bickslow was going on Wednesday morning. He had dragged himself out of bed, hungover and all, because he needed to go see the sassy blonde, and maybe even ask her out. When he'd told Gajeel that he'd fallen in love with a girl he'd just met but also hadn't, the man had only laughed and said he'd had too much to drink already.

Getting to the English building, he stifled a yawn as he made his way into the corridor and headed towards the lecture theatre his mother had all of her lectures in that year. He'd only been in there once, with all of his lectures and labs being on the opposite side of the campus, but he knew it was definitely a step up from the rooms she'd been using when Bickslow had just started. He was proud of his mother, and even if going from small rooms the size of high school classrooms to full sized lecture theatres wasn't exactly something to be proud of, he was. The only reason Hargeon University was even offering that course was because of her, and it had grown a lot in the years she'd been teaching there.

Finding the room without any difficulty, given that it was right down the end of the main corridor on the first floor – the flashiest and grandest room in the building needed big double doors and a flashy sign that said Lecture Theatre 1 right above the door – he pushed them open and walked into the large room. His mother, the lecturer, wasn't there yet, but he didn't expect otherwise. The class wasn't due to start until nine a.m. as it was, and he still had a few more minutes to go before she would walk in and start getting things ready to teach her class.

He saw the blonde who'd only been on his mind all night and morning sitting just a few rows from the front with a blue haired girl who looked strangely familiar, and a wide grin split his lips as he briskly walked across the front of the theatre and towards the section she was sitting on off on the side, and up the stairs to her row. "Morning, Cosplayer," Bickslow greeted as he took the seat next to her and dropped his laptop and bag on the desk that swung up from the side of each chair.

Lucy turned away from her conversation with Levy and only narrowed her eyes at the blue and black haired man now sitting next to her. She remembered who he was, but in the few months she'd been taking that class, she had never once seen Bickslow in it. And sure, at the start of the semester, there had been a good couple hundred of people sitting in that same lecture theatre with her, but people stopped turning up over time, not surprisingly, and now there were only half that. She still hadn't seen him though, and she could only wonder just what the hell he was doing there that morning.

"Good morning, _He Who Shall Not Be Named_ ," she smirked. "How's your hangover?"

"I'm dealing with it, thank you very much," Bickslow responded with a light chuckle as he opened up his laptop. "Did you finish your paper?"

Lucy nodded. "I did actually. Just in time for when Cana decided to bring some boy back into her room. God, they were loud," she muttered. She'd barely been able to get any sleep after about three-thirty in the morning as soon as the sorority's resident drunkard who just happened to have the room right next to hers had stumbled through the door laughing along with some random guy. The worst part though, apart from her roommate, Levy, having an ability to sleep through absolutely anything, was that Cana's bed was up against the same wall that her own was. And all night and early morning, she'd had to listen to the goddamn headboard hitting the wall over and over and one of her sorority sisters moan some guy's name. She hadn't heard what his name was, but it had been pretty obvious he had been completely rocking her world.

And bed.

Bickslow only lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck. He hadn't thought Cana had been that loud, and he'd literally been right there. But he did feel just a little bad that he'd ruined the blonde's sleep. She seemed like a nice girl and he still really wanted to get to know her, and still ask her out. "Well, I would say sorry, but I mean… Birthday sex is kinda great so…" _Can I turn this into asking her out? Nah, probably not. She probably won't take too kindly to finding out I was the reason she was awake all night._

She eyed Bickslow curiously before her eyes went wide as a quiet groan of disgust slipped past her lips. So the Dark Lord was the mystery guy. That was… Something she didn't really need to know. At all. "Ugh. I really didn't need to know that it was you. But seriously, just make sure you and your girlfriend keep it down if it's that late. Levy might be able to sleep through it, but I can't," she said quickly as she opened up her books and got ready for the lecture.

"Wait. Levy?" Bickslow blinked as he leant around the blonde and looked towards the small blue haired woman on the other side of her. That was why she looked familiar. He grinned widely as recognition crossed his face. Levy damn McGarden. He hadn't seen her in years, not since he'd graduated, and who would have thought she'd end up in Hargeon? "Levy! Long time no see, Levs."

"Hello, Bickslow," she said softly with a small smile. "Happy birthday for yesterday, by the way. I heard you enjoyed yourself."

"Thanks, Levmeister. And, I did. I did indeed," he chuckled as he sat back in his chair and folded his arms. Ah, he'd always liked Levy. She had always been a good kid. Always with her nose in a book and keeping it out of places it didn't belong. For a while, he'd joked about how the blue haired girl who was mostly in the library between classes would be the perfect girl for Gajeel, just because she was the complete opposite of him. Bickslow only wished he'd introduced them before they'd graduated. He was sure they'd have hit it off instantly.

 _But now he has that blue haired bookworm and he doesn't even know her na—holy fucking shit._ He turned back to Levy with a wider grin than before, and she only looked back at him with as much confusion as Lucy was. "Holy shit, it's you!" Bickslow said excitedly.

"Excuse me?"

"You're the bookworm," he said a little softer. "You're the one that Gajeel likes." It all made sense. Small, blue haired woman who had a penchant for having her nose in a book. It was Levy fucking McGarden, and it was perfect.

"T-That was… H-Him?" Levy stuttered as her cheeks became dusted with pink and she tried to sink down in her chair. She'd thought the black haired man she'd seen a few times over the last few months had looked familiar, but he'd never learned his name. She hadn't even met him in high school, but she'd seen him with Bickslow around town or between classes many times. But if the strangely cute guy in the class she'd walked into on her first day was the same one that she knew was Bickslow's best friend… Well, she was in for a world of trouble.

Bickslow laughed as he quickly glanced down to the lecturer as she walked in and over to her podium. He still had a few more minutes before she'd be starting the lecture, so he was fine – he would know, after all. Aside from her being his mother, he'd taken that exact class in his first year and passed with flying colours. Turning back to Levy and past the seriously confused blonde, he said, "He's changed a bit, but yeah. Totally called you two being perfect for each other years ago." A haircut and a few piercings getting taken out can make a whole lot of difference, as it turns out.

As Levy only shook her head – she barely knew Gajeel at all, but they most definitely were not perfect for each other – and got her things ready for note taking, her highlighters and books they had been assigned to read all neatly getting laid out in front of her, Lucy could only look between the two with her brows drawn together as she tried to figure out just what was going on.

She knew about Levy's little crush on the unknown man, because she'd teased her about it more than she should have. But she'd only met Bickslow the previous night, and even though Levy had started at the beginning of the year instead of in the second semester like Lucy had, having put off starting university for a little while to spend time with her family after her mother's health started to deteriorate, she'd never once heard Levy talk about Bickslow at all. It was possible they'd met earlier that year and that she just hadn't found it necessary to bring up that she seemed like she was almost friends with someone that everyone in her sorority house had warned her to stay away from, but Lucy didn't think that was the case.

No, she was sure that it was something else, and Lucy wanted to know just what that something was. "Uh… So how exactly do you two know each other?" she asked the two on either side of her.

"We went to high school together," Bickslow answered.

"Huh? You went to school in Magnolia?" She turned to the blue haired woman beside her, silently asking her to explain it, because she was still incredibly confused. She'd gone to Magnolia High after her family had moved to Magnolia to complete her last two years, and it was where she'd met both Gray and Natsu, as well as Levy since she'd quickly become her best friend with their shared interests. But she'd never once seen Bickslow in Magnolia.

Levy sighed. "Bickslow graduated the year before you started. He was in the grade above Natsu and Gray, that's why you wouldn't have met him until… Well, until whenever it was you two actually met," she explained.

"Ah, what a shame. You weren't there to be in our little study group," Bickslow chuckled. "I think you would have fit in perfectly."

Lucy arched a brow as she turned back to the blue and black haired man. "You? In a study group? You don't seem the type to actually study much."

"Hey, don't judge a book by its cover, Cosplayer. You only just met me last night, remember? Plenty of things you've yet to learn… But you'll learn them eventually. It's okay."

Lucy rolled her eyes with a huff of laughter as she finished getting herself ready for the lecture. Sure, she really did know nothing about Bickslow seeing as they really had only met the previous night and there very well possibly could be more to him than just being a womanising ass who slept with too many people, but she couldn't see herself learning about those hidden traits he probably supposedly had. She couldn't even see herself learning his damn last name. "Yeah, sure," she scoffed.

Levy only shook her head at her friend before looking around her and back to Bickslow. They actually did have a little study group – though it had really been more of a study _duo_ – going on between them when they'd been in high school together, only because they were really the only two who were in the library very often. Levy liked the peace and quiet away from Jet and Droy, and Bickslow needed somewhere to study between classes. Just because he was two years older than her and they were definitely not taking the same classes, didn't mean they weren't friends. Once they'd seen each other in the library enough, they'd eventually started talking and just started studying together to keep each other company.

It worked out though. Bickslow had always hated history and absolutely hated studying for tests on it, and Levy was well above her year group when it came to that, so she'd help Bickslow with studying for history. As for Levy though, well she'd always hated all of the sciences in high school. She was forever falling behind in chemistry and biology, and Bickslow had always been near the top of his class, if not at the top in those classes, so Bickslow would help her with her chemistry and biology. The guy had always been a science nerd, and because of Bickslow, she'd actually passed her exams that year, and Bickslow had even managed to pass his ancient history exam with flying colours.

But Levy was still curious as to why Bickslow was in her Literature in History class right then. Aside from it being a first year English course, and she knew for a fact that Bickslow was not in his first year and that the last time she'd checked or come across his profile or seen one of his weird online statuses, he'd been majoring in biomedical sciences to no doubt get him closer to medical school. Which wasn't really all that surprising to Levy, because he'd mentioned how he'd thought about going to med school when he'd been a senior in high school and he'd been nearing his final exams, but he also hadn't been sure what he wanted to do. So for Bickslow to be sitting in that lecture theatre right then, it just made no sense to Levy, even if she knew that the lecturer was also his mother. It was something Bickslow had also mentioned in his senior year, and aside from them sharing the same last name, they did look similar, and it wasn't just a coincidence.

But was she going to tell Lucy that her favourite teacher was also her new _friend's_ mother? No. She wasn't. It wasn't really that relevant to the conversation just yet.

"Hey, Bickslow…" Levy began carefully and quietly as the noise in the room dropped with the lecturer just about ready to begin. "Why exactly are you here?"

He grinned as he paused the cat video he was watching. "To learn," he answered. "Why else, Levmeister?"

"No. I know you're not taking this class. Or even doing an English major," Levy argued. Her mouth turned up into a small smile before she asked, "You do realise this is Literature in _History_ , right? Are you in the wrong building?"

"Oh, I'm definitely not in the wrong building. But if you really want to know why I'm here, then I'll tell you later." Telling Levy that he wanted to ask the blonde between them out as something he'd tell Levy with no problems. The girl knew how to keep a secret. But he definitely wasn't going to tell her then.

For now, he was there to watch cat videos and be a smartass in his mother's class. As far as anyone knew, he wasn't there, so he could get away with sitting up there and doing nothing. Explaining to his mother why he was there though… Bickslow knew that was coming, but that was okay. He'd get to that eventually.

* * *

Lucy was close to fuming. Who did Bickslow think he was? Sitting through a lecture for a class he wasn't even taking (Levy was adamant that Bickslow was definitely not taking Literature in History, and Bickslow just kept saying that he was where he needed and wanted to be) and then not even paying attention to a single word that was coming out of the lecturer's mouth.

And then he has the audacity to lean over and tell her that one of her answers in the summary quiz they do at the end of each lecture on the texts and to prepare them for their exams, was wrong. Just who was this guy? And sure, he'd actually ended up giving her the right answer, along with a stupid grin that made her want to shove the assigned reading book in his stupid – thought slightly attractive, if she had to be perfectly honest – face. First he watches stupid videos and doesn't take a single note about the lecture, and then he somehow miraculously corrects her on her own notes.

She hadn't even known the guy for twenty-four hours, and she already hated him. Well, maybe hated was a strong word, because she didn't hate anyone. But she definitely didn't like him. How Levy could have been even close to being friends with him back in high school, she just had no idea, and she was glad that her family hadn't moved to Magnolia the year earlier, because otherwise she would have had the pleasure of knowing Bickslow in his senior year.

When the lecture ended, Bickslow followed behind the two girls and down the stairs, heading towards the exit along with everyone else. He hadn't had the opportunity to ask Lucy out yet, or even talk to her much over the course of the last two hours, and he figured he'd at least need to talk to her a little bit to even think about her getting to say yes. _Maybe I'll do it next week._ At least if he waited another week to ask her on a date, he'd have a little bit more time to talk to Levy, and then maybe find out a little bit more about Lucy from Levy or Natsu and Gray, assuming he could find them. Not to mention another week would give him some time to come up with something to do for a date. It had been a while since he'd wanted to actually take someone out on a date where his main goal wasn't actually sleeping with them.

"Ah, a moment please."

He looked up at the voice to see his mother beckoning him over from her podium. Turning to quickly look back to the girls in front of him, a satisfied smirk sitting on Lucy's lips for reasons Bickslow had yet to figure out, he cleared his throat as he looked to Levy and said, "I'll come find you later, Levy." Nodding, the blue haired woman only turned once again and followed Lucy back towards the exit, leaving just Bickslow, the lecturer, and the few people who were still packing up their things in the large lecture hall.

Bickslow waited until the room was empty before saying anything, and as soon as the windowless doors leading back into the corridor were swinging closed, he was grinning and being pulled into a tight hug by his mother. Even if it was mostly common knowledge his mother was a lecturer there and he really didn't keep it hidden if it got brought up, there were certain things that he couldn't exactly do in a classroom full of people he didn't know. Like hug is own mother. Because there were always people who got the wrong idea, and that was the last thing he needed.

"Hey, Mum," he said happily.

"Oh, it's good to see you," she replied as she only tried to squeeze her son, despite him being much bigger than her, just a little bit tighter. "What in the world are you doing here, Bicks?"

Bickslow shrugged as he walked around to the podium and leant his elbows on the edge, watching as his mother returned to packing up her things and shutting down the overhead projector and closing the slides. "I don't have any classes on Wednesday mornings, so I thought I'd come by and talk to you."

"Bicks, you were here at nine o'clock in the morning. Not even you would get out of bed when hungover to come and see your dear old mother," she laughed.

"Hey, I would so," Bickslow defended himself with his trademark smirk.

She rolled her eyes at her son. "Sure you would. Did you enjoy your night though?"

"Very much so."

"You didn't get into too much trouble I hope?"

"Just a little bit."

She sighed, and then picked up her bag and stack of papers and held them in her arm. "Well, as long as you continue to focus on your studies and stay out of too much trouble, that's all I wish for." Slowly, she turned and headed for the exit with her son in tow, needing to head off to a meeting with another lecturer, and she continued, "Oh, before I forget. We'll have to skip dinner this weekend, Bicks. I have to head out of town for a few days, so you'll have to wait until next weekend to get your birthday present."

"That's okay," Bickslow smiled. He was used to having to skip the odd dinner with his mother because of her schedule, so he really didn't mind that his weekend was now completely free… Apart from finishing his last paper that was due soon. "You know I don't mind."

"I know, but I still wish I could see you more than once a week for dinner. Or once a fortnight, as it seems."

Bickslow stopped by the doors to quickly lean down and press a kiss to her cheek. "Seriously, it's fine, Mum. Now drop it," he said. "Now I gotta go. Gotta go get something to eat."

She sighed again just before she pushed the door open. "Drink plenty of water too, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." With another wide grin, he instead pushed the door open and held it open for his mother, then let it swing closed behind him as he followed her out.

So only seeing her once a week and only being able to have quick conversations like that wasn't exactly ideal, but that was how it was those days, and Bickslow really didn't mind. Teaching and lecturing was what made her happy, and that's what made Bickslow happy too. And besides, he was old enough to be able to survive without seeing his mother every day of the week. It had been like that since he'd been a teenager anyway, so he truly was used to it.

Slowly making his back towards the English building's exit, he looked down to his phone in his hand to check some of his notifications. Boring stuff, really, but he had a habit of ignoring his phone for most of the day so he liked to make a point of checking all of his messages and such every few hours. By Bickslow's reasoning, it was perfectly justified for him to not check his phone as much as everyone else did, because really, the only person he actually liked talking to most of the time just happened to sleep in the same room as him.

He looked up from it though when he felt someone coming into stride beside him, and his mouth turned up into a grin when he saw that it was Lucy. "What are you still doing here, Cosplayer?" he asked the blonde at his side as he slipped his phone back into his jeans pocket.

Lucy shrugged. "I wanted to see what you got in trouble for," she answered. She'd only walked out of the room and told Levy she'd catch up with her later for one of their other classes they shared, so instead of heading to the library or finding a nice spot in the rare sun until her next lecture, she'd waited outside for the weird blue-and-black haired man to find out just why he'd had to talk to the lecturer.

"What makes you think I got in trouble?"

"You sat through an entire lecture for a class you're obviously not taking, and then as you're leaving, Professor Alma calls you over," Lucy explained to the surprisingly amused man beside her. "At the very least, she told you off, because she knows all of the students in that class. Well, most of them anyway. But she knows their faces. I know it."

Bickslow could only grin down at her as they made their way outside. Her not knowing his last name was proving to be incredibly entertaining, and he was glad that Levy hadn't brought it up. Bickslow didn't know how long Lucy had been at that university or in that class, but he guessed that it was her first time with his mother as the teacher, because she had an inability to yell at anyone for anything. She didn't tell people off, and even if someone were to quite literally blow up something in the middle of her class and set her on fire (which Bickslow had accidentally sort of done when he had been sixteen and trying to cook her something nice for her birthday, except he only ended up smoking out their house and her sleeve caught on fire when trying to put out the fire on the stove), she still wouldn't even raise her voice that much. She just wasn't that kind of person.

And even if Bickslow didn't doubt her knowing all of her students at least by their faces if not their names, he knew she wouldn't care if someone decided to turn up to her lectures out of the blue without even being enrolled to take it. She loved teaching, and if she could, she'd do it for free. Having the odd student turn up, maybe just to see if her class was worth taking (which Bickslow always thought it was, and he was incredibly proud of the fact that she was one of the highest rated professors on campus and had the classes with the highest attendance), was something she didn't mind in the slightest. And apparently, Lucy didn't realise that.

"So you want me to have gotten in trouble?" Bickslow quipped. That's what it was, wasn't it? It was almost as if Lucy was wanting him to have gotten in trouble for whatever reason.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Why? You like bad boys or something?"

"W-Well, no…" _Maybe just a little… But you don't need to know that, Voldemort._ She hugged her book to her chest just a little bit tighter when she glanced up to see another cocky grin, then turned back to look to her other side to more trees with their falling leaves as they walked back towards the centre of the university's campus together. "I just want to know what she said, is all."

 _Why is she so curious?_ Bickslow could only wonder just why the blonde was so intent on finding out just what his mother had said, but he was sure she'd be just a little disappointed once she found out that he was so far from being in trouble that it wasn't even funny.

He knew that he didn't want to just straight up tell her though, or that her lecturer was actually his mother. Even if it wasn't something he kept from people, he just didn't feel like telling her. She was sure to find out eventually, if Levy didn't tell her. Which, even if he'd been glad she hadn't told her right then, he wouldn't care if she did at a later time.

But still, Bickslow was realising that he could use Lucy's curiosity to his advantage. She wanted to know just why the lecturer, or his mother, had called him over after the class had ended, and Bickslow didn't particularly want to give her the straight up boring answer. He still had yet to ask her out on a date too, so…

Stopping on one of the many paths that crossed the lush lawns, he folded his arms and looked down to the blonde with a mischievous smile when she looked up at him curiously. "Tell you what," Bickslow began, only pausing for a brief moment to return a wave to someone from his microbiology tutorial. Looking back to Lucy, he continued, "Go on a date with me and I'll tell you what she said."

Lucy arched a brow. _Is he serious?_ "Excuse me?"

"Is that a yes?"

 _Oh my god. He's serious. Who does this guy think he is?!_ "No, that is _not_ a yes," she answered quickly. The worst part though, was that she couldn't stop herself from blushing, and there was an incredibly tiny part of her that was wanting to say yes, just because she wanted to find out what the lecturer had said. But, even if she knew for a fact she didn't want to go on a date with anyone, much less someone she only just met, it was the first time she'd been asked out since starting classes, and it was just a little flattering. "Besides," she continued as they began to walk again, apparently still heading in the same direction. "Even if I did want to go out with you, which I don't, you're with Cana."

"Nope. I'm not."

"Uh… Last night?"

Bickslow shrugged. "She's not my girlfriend or anything. We just hook up every now and then."

"Charming," Lucy mumbled. She knew it wasn't her place to judge though. What people did in their spare time was none of her business, so she would stay out of it.

Reaching what would become their parting point though, they stopped again just by a still slightly damp bench from the morning's shower. Looking up to Bickslow before he headed towards the centre of the campus where all the cafés and amenities sat, she quietly said, "Well, I'm going to go get some work done in the library, so I guess I'll see you around, maybe. Happy birthday for yesterday too, I guess."

He shoved his hands back into the pockets of his hoodie as he smiled again. "Thanks, Cosplayer. And yeah, maybe. See you around."

So with Lucy only smiling softly before turning, she let out a quiet sigh and headed towards the library that was just ahead of her. She was definitely going to have tell Levy about that (which Bickslow had expected her to do, which saved him a conversation), even if she had said no to going on a date with him. It was just something she needed to talk about with her best friend.

And as Bickslow headed in the opposite direction, he was realising he wasn't even disappointed that she'd said no. He was glad, if anything, because it had only made him want to go out with her just that little bit more. It wasn't fun if things were easy, and Bickslow had quickly realised that Lucy was anything but that. No, she'd make things difficult for him, and that was okay.

Her saying no had only made him like her just that tiny bit more, and now, all he had to do was find a way to get her to go out with him (and actually like him, because it was obvious she didn't in the slightest), because that was what he really wanted her to do, and not because he wanted to sleep with her.

* * *

 ** _Just another short chapter because I want to keep these ones short, since it's definitely not even close to being one of my main stories (but that doesn't mean I'll abandon this, because I won't. Ever)._**

 ** _Next story update will be for Shattered, for those that are interested. Hope you enjoyed this chapter though! And please remember to review if you can!_**

 ** _Until next time._**

 ** _\- April_**


	3. Chapter 3

Another week had gone by for Bickslow, which meant it had been the second week in a row he'd gone to one of his mother's lectures just to talk to Lucy. She'd ignored him for most of it, as Bickslow had expected her to since it was obvious she didn't like him at all, which was fine, and Levy had only glared at him for most of it.

Like Bickslow had expected Lucy to, she'd gone straight to her best friend to gossip about the fact that he'd just asked her out, and all that night, Bickslow's phone had been going off because Levy had been messaging him nonstop. Most of it had been checking to see if he was actually sane, which he was. Sort of. The rest, had been reminding him that if he treated Lucy like every other girl on campus, he wouldn't live to see his graduation. And honestly, that had been just a little terrifying, but he wasn't worried.

Bickslow had no intentions of treating Lucy like he did everyone else, because she was different. She was actually someone worth talking to and getting to know, not some fuck that he didn't care about in the slightest. Bickslow just genuinely liked Lucy, at least that's what he thought, and he really did want to get to know her, even though he was well aware that it was borderline stalking that he was showing up to her lectures. That's what Gajeel had said, anyway, but Bickslow had just put that down to the fact he was mad since he'd teased him that he was talking to his blue-haired girlfriend and he wasn't.

He liked her, even if she hated him. It was almost as if the more she hated him, the more he liked her. And sure, he should probably learn to take a hint, but he could back off. He hadn't asked her out at all that week.

But it was the end of the week, which meant Bickslow wasn't stuck in his dorm or in the library trying to cram for the exams coming up in just a couple more weeks, but was instead at his mother's house and having dinner, like they'd planned and like they'd had to postpone because of her work. His birthday present, as it turns out, had been a car that he really didn't need considering he spent all of his time on campus, but his mother's reasoning was that he only had two years left until he had his degree, and then the plan had always been for him to move to Crocus and finish his education and training there. And for that, he'd need a decent car to get him halfway across the country, and then to and from school and work. He was still thankful, of course, but the car was really just going to sit in his mother's driveway most of the time next to her own. She had to have known that though.

It was a while later when Bickslow was dropping the dishes into the dishwasher and getting ready to head back to the campus and his dorm to finish up his last paper that was due come Monday morning that his mother decided to ask the burning question that had Bickslow almost dropping a glass. "So why exactly are you coming to my Wednesday morning classes?"

"Uh… No reason in particular," Bickslow mumbled, grinning as he dried his hands on a towel and went to grab his warm jacket from where it was over the back of one chair in the dining area. "Can I not take extra classes that have nothing to do with biochemistry or physics?"

"You're already doing a double degree. You don't have time to be taking extra classes, Bickslow."

"I have _some_ time," Bickslow argued. "And I'm not, technically. Physics is just my minor."

She smiled as she crossed her arms right by her door as Bickslow shrugged his jacket on. "Why are you coming to my class?" she asked again. "If you're planning on being a bad influence on any of my students…"

"God, Mum. I'm not going to be a bad influence on her, jeez," Bickslow groaned.

"Oh, so you're coming for a girl, huh?"

Bickslow blinked, and laughed to try and play it off, even though he'd said too much and she saw right through everything. _Damn it. I shouldn't have said that._ "What? No," he scoffed.

"Hmm, is it that blonde you were sitting next to?" she continued to pry, finding her son's embarrassment far too entertaining to stop herself. It didn't help that she was his mother and she wanted to know these kinds of things. "Lucy, isn't it? She's smart, that one. She knows her stuff."

"Does she?" _Damn it. I'm not curious._ Shaking his head as he screwed his eyes shut, Bickslow cleared his throat and looked back to his smirking mother and quickly said, "Okay, fine, I may or may not like her a little bit, but really, that's all. Now can we stop talking about this so I can go back to the dorms?"

She frowned as his hand reached the door handle. "Fine, fine," she sighed. "But just remember to stay safe and use pro—"

"Oh my god, Mum! Stop, please!"

"Well, I went to college too, you know… I know what happens, and I've heard a few too many things about you and they're things a mother doesn't exactly want to hear…"

"And I'm sorry," Bickslow quickly said, pulling the door open so he could hurry up and get the hell out of there. His mother meant well, and he adored her, but he was not going to be sticking around to listen to her go on about safe sex. He knew all of that already, thank you very much. "But seriously, it's bad enough you know any of that at all, but we really don't need to be having a conversation about safe sex, okay?"

She held up her hands defensively. "Hey, I just gotta make sure. It's my job. I wouldn't mind have some blonde grandkids—"

"Oh my god. I'm leaving." And before he finally made his escape, he quickly stepped back to kiss her cheek, and quickly said, "Love you. See you Wednesday morning." He wasn't even going to let her finish that sentence. She finds out he likes a girl, and she automatically starts hinting she wants blonde grandkids.

No. Just no. That was just too weird for Bickslow to handle.

* * *

Finals were just a week away, which meant Bickslow was studying his ass off. He wasn't regretting wasting those two hours every Wednesday morning to go to his mother's lecture, because he wasn't exactly wasting them. He got to see his mum and talk to her for a few minutes after every class, and he even got to have Lucy actually bearing his presence by that point. She didn't like him the way he liked her – not even close, actually – but she wasn't completely ignoring him anymore.

No, she was a sassy little thing when it came to talking to Bickslow, and he _loved_ it. She was smart and perfectly snarky, and she was just a ball of sarcasm when it came to him. All of it just made Bickslow like her all the more, and over the last few weeks, he'd most definitely asked her out more than once, and of course, she had said no every time.

It wasn't even as annoying as it should be. Sure, it kinda sucked that he was getting turned down every single time he asked her out (and somehow, it seemed to have gotten around that someone was actually smart enough to hold out on him and it proved to be something most liked to tease him out, for some strange reason), but he didn't mind all that much. Lucy thought he was joking, so, he let her believe it.

He'd just have to find a way to make her realise he wasn't actually joking, but he'd have to find another time to do that, because he was really too busy studying his ass off for his exams. Plus, who was to say he'd still like her after classes started again in the new year? Almost everyone went home over the winter break at the end of the year, and Bickslow assumed Lucy would too. There was a long break before he'd even seen her again, so there was a very real possibility he'd get over her in that time.

No doubt he'd come across someone to keep him entertained for the couple of months between semesters and he'd forget all about the sassy blonde.

But was he going to forget about her when classes were still running? Unlikely. Even when he was sitting in the crowded library, with everyone using the resources to cram for their exams, he was still thinking about her, but that partly had something to do with how when Bickslow looked up from his microbiology book, he saw a blonde weaving his way through the third floor study area and towards him with Levy in tow.

"Cosplayer," Bickslow said with his wide grin as the two sat down opposite him and one of his friends from one of his labs. "Levmeister."

"Dark Lord," Lucy replied, just as Levy sighed and smiled politely. She still didn't understand the nicknames they had for each other, and honestly, Levy was beginning to think that she didn't _want_ to know.

Bickslow's friend looked up from his laptop and looked between the two girls, then back to Bickslow with a smirk that only made Bickslow's brows draw together. "Ah, so this is the one that keeps turning you down," the man mused.

Bickslow grinned. "The one and only." Turning to Lucy, he leant forward over the table to rest his chin in his palm and slowly said, "But speaking of you always turning me down…"

"You ready to be turned down again then?" Lucy asked, leaning forward over her books and mimicking Bickslow's posture.

"Of course." He was always ready to be turned down by Lucy, because he'd come to expect it. He was, however, going to patiently wait for the day where she wouldn't turn him down. He was sure it would happen one day, he just had to wait. And no matter how many times Gajeel had told him to just shut the fuck up about Lucy and had called him a bit of a stalker over the last few weeks, Bickslow was still convinced he would get the blonde to like him. He wasn't lightly stalking her either. Not at all. He just happened to be visiting his mother and talking to an old friend, who his best friend just happened to like even though he refused to admit it. "I have a proposition for you this time," Bickslow said quietly, since after all, they were still in a library.

Lucy's eyebrows arched curiously. A proposition? Now that, she was interested in. His first proposition had been that she would know what her lecturer had said to Bickslow if she went on a date with him, so naturally, she still had no idea what had happened when he'd been kept back after that lecture.

She would still say no, of course, because she knew Bickslow was just messing with her. He didn't actually like her, because of what she knew of Bickslow, he didn't _like_ people in that way. "What's this _proposition_ of yours then?"

"If I get high distinctions in all of my units, then you go on a date with me."

Lucy smiled sweetly, and even batted her eyelashes for good measure. "Sorry, Voldemort. I'll have to pass."

"Ah, what a shame."

The man next to the Bickslow with the short bright green-and-pink hair closed his heavy textbook and laptop and looked to Bickslow. "Why do you even try if she's just gonna keep saying no?" he asked.

Bickslow shrugged. "Because."

He shook is head and let out a sigh before turning to the blonde with a dark smirk. "What about me though?" he said to Lucy. "You obviously hate this moron, so why don't you go out with me instead?"

Only Levy seemed to notice the murderous glare Bickslow was aiming at the green-and-pink haired man, because she was the only person there who knew that he wasn't actually just messing with Lucy. For some reason, he genuinely liked her, but he didn't seem to mind being turned down every time he asked her out. But… If his friend was doing it just to mess with _him_ , then Levy was honestly feeling just a little sorry for Bickslow. It wasn't his fault Lucy was oblivious, because more than once over the last few weeks when they'd run into each other, Bickslow had quite clearly stated that he actually liked her. Lucy just seemed to think that was part of the joke too.

Lucy opened up her notebook as she pursed her lips, considering the man's offer. She didn't actually hate Bickslow, and she knew that Bickslow was aware of that too. No, they were kind of friends, and they had a slightly strange relationship, considering how it had formed in the first place. Even if she didn't hate him though, she still wasn't going to go out with him.

But his friend though… Maybe. One reason was that she wanted to see how annoyed Bickslow would be if she did, and another reason was that she kind of wanted to go on a date with someone. She really didn't expect much, because already, college boys seemed to be worse than high school boys. But a date would be kind of nice. It would give her something to look forward to, maybe, once the exam weeks were over.

Looking back up to the green-and-pink haired man who was only looking to her expectedly, Lucy nodded and said, "Sure. But only after all the exams are over, okay?"

The man grinned, and once again, Levy seemed to notice the way Bickslow seemed just about ready to hit himself in the head with the extraordinarily large textbook he had in front of him. "So on the Friday night?" the man asked, and Lucy nodded again.

She tore a small section off from her notebook after scribbling down her name and her number, and handed it to the grinning man. "Here," she said. "Text me or call me later once you've decided what you want to do on this date. What's your name, by the way?"

"Jake," he answered, and he turned in his chair just to wave the tiny piece of paper in Bickslow's face. "Bet you're jealous now, huh?"

Jealous? Of course Bickslow was jealous, but he wasn't going to show it. Just like he wasn't going to show that he was going to fucking rip the guy's head off if he didn't shut the hell up.

He knew Lucy didn't like him, but _that_ was cold. Ice cold. Colder then Gray's dorm room, cold. She might have well been fucking Elsa or something, that's how cold she was.

But he still couldn't do anything, even though it really fucking hurt for some reason. Putting on a smile, Bickslow only shrugged and replied, "Not one bit." _Of course I'm fucking jealous_ , _you moron. Hurt her and I'll rip your fucking throat out. Wait, what? Where the hell did_ _ **that**_ _come from?_

Bickslow only shook his head to look back down to his books and decided not to think on it too much.

"Yeah, yeah," Jake chuckled. "Sure you're not."

Lucy turned her attention back to the blue-and-black haired man when he quickly began packing up his things, closing his textbook, notebook, and laptop, before shoving all but the extraordinarily large textbook in his backpack. "Oh. Leaving?" Lucy asked, blinking slowly.

"Yeah. Done enough studying for today, I think," Bickslow mumbled. It wasn't that far from the truth. He'd been there for a couple of hours already, and it was time to leave and go rant to Gajeel or someone. He could really afford not to study all day every day, since Bickslow was pretty damn confident he'd get all high distinctions anyway – it was exactly why he'd said what he had to Lucy.

It was just that Bickslow really didn't want to sit there with them any more. The girl who refused to go on a date with him, the one who knew too much, and the moronic 'friend' (but granted, the extent of their friendship was based on them being strangely similar and they were lab partners for that semester) who Bickslow _knew_ would hurt Lucy somehow. That, he was just waiting to happen, to be honest, even though he didn't want it to.

"Oh, well, good luck with your study and your exams," Lucy said sweetly as she smiled up at Bickslow before he left. Still, she seemed oblivious to the scowl he permanently had now, so she had no idea that anything was wrong. She hadn't even had a chance to call him out on lying about taking her literature class with Professor Alma. Lucy had known right from the first time he'd shown up to her Wednesday morning class, but she'd let it go just because it was fun.

Bickslow nodded. "Yeah, thanks," he mumbled again, and he lifted a hand to wave to Levy next to her who only gave him a slightly apologetic smile. "Catch ya later, Levs."

And with Levy muttering her own goodbye, she turned to look at her notebook in front of her in silence, just as Lucy did the same. Jake sitting directly opposite her was grinning like an idiot still while staring at Lucy, and that, Lucy actually noticed and only quietly laughed at, but it made Levy just want to reach out and wrap her hands around one of their throats. Either one would honestly be fine, but Levy was leaning more towards Lucy, just because she was being stupid.

It wasn't exactly like she wanted Lucy to date Bickslow, because she didn't, and she really didn't have to worry about it either. It was just that she was hurting the guy, and even if Bickslow had changed a bit since high school and not exactly in a way that Levy liked all that much, he still didn't exactly deserve it. He wasn't that bad a person.

But was she going to tell Lucy that he really wasn't just teasing her? Hell no. She was a smart girl. She could figure it out on her own.

Maybe.

* * *

Lucy's date with Jake was so far, going horribly.

Well, it wasn't that bad, but she really wasn't enjoying herself, and considering her last exam had been scheduled for that same morning, that was also the last day for any exam to be held that semester and marked the official end of the semester and year, Lucy was sure that there were better ways she could have been spending her night. Like, curled up in bed with a book and headphones and ignoring the party that her sorority was holding that night, or maybe even go and enjoy herself a little bit and drink a little.

Maybe.

But either way, she would honestly take anything over her horrible date. The only good thing though, was that it was nearly over, and she could go and find a way to end her night on a good note. First, she just had to get away – far away – from Jake.

She stopped and turned back to Jake when she saw her white and pink sorority house – she really didn't need to be walked to her front door – just a little way up the street, people spilling out onto the lawn and hanging from windows (somehow) and enjoying themselves already, just like people were doing at some of the other houses on the row. "I had a nice time tonight, Jake," she lied, smiling sweetly at him and nervously fiddling with the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah?" Jake smirked, and he stepped just a little closer to the blonde. "Well, there's no reason it should end here though, right?"

Lucy stepped back then, and she did her best to keep the smile on her face, even though all she wanted to do was just turn and walk away. Quickly. "Uh, I think I'll pass," she said nervously.

"Aw, come on. The dorms will be empty."

She shrugged his hand away when he reached for her arm, and took another step back. She could deal with his arm being over her shoulders in the cinema, as much as it had made her skin crawl, and then him walking just a little bit too close on their way back from the diner on campus after the movie, but she couldn't deal with this. Jake was just going too far for Lucy to handle.

"No," Lucy said sternly, and she continued to step back to put some distance between them. "Stop. I'm not… I'm not in—"

"Really? You're gonna be like that?" Jake cut her off suddenly, and Lucy only stared at him in confusion. "You gonna turn me down like you do Bickslow, but you're just gonna lead me along a bit more instead?"

Lucy wasn't leading anyone along. Or at least, she didn't think she was. She turned Bickslow down because that was what he expected, and strangely seemed to want and enjoy. But Jake, she'd only agreed to go on a date in the first place because it would _just_ be a date. It would never be anything more than that, and Lucy had doubted that there would ever be a second one well before the first one had even started. But Lucy was sure she hadn't led Jake along. She hadn't made him believe that he would be getting anything other than a date. "I'm sorry, I never…"

"Ah, don't bother apologising. I'm sure you can make it up to me somehow."

"No, Jake. Stop." Lucy was honestly hating just how many times she was already having to say _no_ to Jake. She shouldn't have had to say it more than once as it was, but for some reason, he just didn't seem to understand that she had no intentions of sleeping with him. She never did, and she never would.

His face darkened then, and he only groaned as he rolled his eyes. "Jeez, you're annoying. I was feeling sorry for Bix since you always held out on him, but now it's just a pain," he complained. Lucy felt tears spring in her eyes, but whether or not Jake noticed them didn't seem to make a different to him as he continued just as bitterly, "Nothing? Not even a tiny bit? Third base? Not even a little of second?"

Lucy only stared at him for a moment before quickly turning on her heels and she headed in the opposite direction towards her house as quickly as she could. She wasn't even going to bother saying goodnight to him, because she just honestly didn't think he deserved something so simple.

She'd known right from the start that Jake most likely wasn't interested in her – who would actually be interested in her, because Lucy didn't know – and that it was probably just to annoy Bickslow a little, but it still hurt. Was that all it had ever been about though? Just getting her into bed at the end of the night? Not with Bickslow, because she expected so much considering that's just who he was, but with Jake. She just wasn't that kind of girl, but was that what people thought of her? That she would willingly jump into bed with someone as long as they weren't Bickslow and treated her to a 'nice' night?

She didn't want to be that kind of person. She didn't want to be anything close to that kind of person.

Not even bothering to say anything to Levy as she passed her in their living room, a drink in her hand for once and talking to one of their sorority sisters, Lucy rushed up the stairs, edging past every person that was in her way. She kept her head down as she made her way down the noisy hall to the bedroom she shared with Levy, so she didn't notice Bickslow who was leaning against the wall and talking to someone else, but he noticed her.

He noticed the quiet sobs she fought to not let out just as she quickly passed him, and he noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks right before she was slamming one of the doors in the hall behind her. He really seemed to be the only one who noticed, but that might have something to do with the fact that he was probably one of the only somewhat sober people there that night. His brain was still functioning, to an extent, and like he had been for the last nearly three weeks, he was thinking of ways to destroy Jake's life.

Bickslow had known that Lucy's date with his 'friend' had been that night, because Jake had made a point of rubbing it in his face for the last week straight, since all of their exams had been in the first week so his week had been pretty free and Jake had had nothing better to do other than just annoy Bickslow.

Was he still jealous? Of course he was. But the entire time he'd been acting like the jealous barely-even-a-friend he was, he'd also been worrying about how their date would go at all. Jake was an asshole like he was, so it was mostly why they got along at all. The difference between them was, that Bickslow actually liked Lucy, and Jake sure as hell didn't. Jake wouldn't know where to stop, and that was what Bickslow had been worried about for the last nearly three weeks.

He'd known right from the beginning that Jake would somehow hurt her, and his suspicions had only been confirmed now that Lucy was coming back in tears, and that, Bickslow hated. He cared more than he should, and that was just a little worrying, but he ignored that, all because he cared more about finding out if Lucy was okay.

After staring at the closed door just down the hall for what felt like too long, Bickslow finally turned his attention back to the man who was next to him and had been going on and on about something Bickslow had stopped listening to. The guy had turned out to be a pretty interesting person to talk to for the most part, but Bickslow had only started talking to him because he'd needed something to do and keep him occupied for a little while, since his main reason for going to that party that night was just to tell Cana that their little arrangement was over. It had been fun for a while, but it felt just a little weird trying to get Lucy to go out with him while screwing someone else who just happened to live in the room next to Lucy.

Even Bickslow had his standards.

"Hey, man. Cool story," Bickslow muttered, cutting his new friend off in the middle of one of his stories. "I'll see you around, yeah?" He didn't stick around to hear anything else, and instead was pushing away from the wall and passing the other drunken idiots in the upstairs hall and making his way to Lucy's door.

He knew it was Lucy's door, because it quite clearly had _'Lucy and Levy_ ' stuck on the dark door.

Bickslow waited a moment before he gently knocked on the door and waited just another short moment to see if he could hear anything from inside before saying, "Lucy?" When he heard nothing, Bickslow hesitantly turned the handle and pushed the door open just enough to stick his head around the corner and peer into the room. He had to blink a few times just to get his eyes to adjust to the sheer amount of pink in the room – pink walls, pink bedspreads (though one was blue and pink while the other was pink and purple), pink pillows, just… Pink everything.

But it was a sorority. Bickslow was kind of used to seeing pink everywhere, because that particular sorority really seemed to love that colour.

"Go away," Lucy said in a small voice from where she was curled up on the pink and purple bedspread, her back towards Bickslow.

Now, Bickslow could go away, but he wasn't going to. He ignored her, and instead walked further into her room just to gently close the the door behind him and sit down on the edge of the other bed in the room. He hated hearing her cry, or just knowing that she was, and he still didn't really quite understand it. Just why did he care about someone who at best only saw him as a friend? He shouldn't care about her as much as he did, but he really just couldn't leave it like that.

"Are you okay?" Bickslow asked quietly, still looking around the room and taking everything in, including the bookcase in one corner of the room that was absolutely overflowing with books of various sizes and genres.

"I'm fine," she whispered, sniffling a little as she curled in on herself even more. If she hadn't known it was Bickslow before, she definitely did now. She knew his voice, because there was just something about it that made it unique to Lucy and it was far too easy to recognise.

What she didn't know, though, was why Bickslow was even there and asking her if she was okay. She wasn't, even though she'd said she was. All Lucy wanted was to curl up in bed and ignore the party going on just outside her room, because she really wasn't interested in joining the end of semester celebrations.

Bickslow knew she was lying though, but he was just going to let her have that one, because he got what he wanted. She wasn't fine, and it had to be because of what had happened that night. "So uh…" Bickslow began a little nervously as he spied a box of tissues sitting on a shelf nearby, and got up to go grab them. "I take it your _date_ didn't go very well?"

"What makes you think that?" she replied almost bitterly and with half a laugh.

"Oh, I don't know... It's just this feeling I have."

"Just a feeling, huh?"

Bickslow smiled softly, regardless of her not being able to see it. "Just a feeling," he repeated. "I'm smarter than I look, you know," he added after a moment when Lucy blindly reached for the square box of tissues he'd dropped on the nightstand that was between the two beds and behind her.

"Never doubted you," Lucy mumbled. She had long since figured out that there was more to Bickslow than he let on. He wasn't just what everyone said he was, but that still didn't mean she would ever go out with him. Never. But she could still see that there was more to him, and if the giant microbiology book he'd been studying from the last time she had seen Bickslow a few weeks earlier had been any indication on just how intelligent he was, Lucy knew for sure not to ever insult the man's intelligence.

"Well, just keep that in mind, okay?" Bickslow said. He was smart; he knew when something was wrong, and even though he would never say it, he would be there to listen to Lucy if she wanted to talk. Sighing as he got up from the bed he was sitting on, Bickslow turned for the door. Lucy wanted to be alone, and he would leave her alone, because it really wasn't his place to try and comfort her, even though he wanted to. "But if you'll excuse me," he continued just before he reached the door, "I have a jackass to go beat up and a drunk bookworm to go find."

Levy could comfort her, even if she was a little drunk. What Bickslow could do though, was go and find Gajeel and get _him_ to hurt Jake just a little bit. That was the way it worked with those two, and the way it always had worked. Bickslow wasn't the type to get into fights, but Gajeel would gladly get his fists a little bloody if he was annoyed enough, and given that Bickslow had dragged him to that party anyway, he was a little annoyed.

When Lucy heard her bedroom door close though, a soft smile tugged at her lips as she stared at her desk next to her bed. She honestly didn't even care if Jake got a little beaten up, because he deserved it. Just a little bit. Plus, it was kind of nice to know that Bickslow was her friend, even if she hadn't really expected him to be.

But she still wasn't going to go out with him.

* * *

 **A/Ns:** _It's jumping around a little and a lot of things have been skipped, but I'm only doing that because I don't think a lot of it is needed, and this story was always going to be a lot shorter than any of my others._

 _Anyway. Hope you liked it! I'm not too sure what I think of this chapter. I think it's just one of those ones that I'm never going to particularly love, but I didn't really know how else to write it..._

 _I'm also not sure when or what the next update will be, but I'm thinking it will probably be for How I Met You._

 _Until next time._

 _\- April_


	4. Chapter 4

_This chapter is a little longer. Oh well._

 _Also, sorry for all those random story posts yesterday. That was just me deciding that I really didn't want to put all of them up here yet (since they started out as tumblr prompts and were all less than 1k words anyway). So just ignore all of those. If I get enough drabble length fics, I'll probably put them all into a collection, but until then, they'll just stay on tumblr._

* * *

Lucy stared down at her phone in her hand until she couldn't see anything clearly through the tears in her eyes. It was the start of the winter break, the exam period having ended just the day before, but it was not the way that Lucy had expected to be starting it.

She'd been in the middle of packing to go back home until the new year when she'd received a call from an aunt she'd only spoken to a handful a times. Lucy had had no clue as to why the woman was calling her, just because her family had never exactly kept in touch with that side of the family, especially so after her mother's death right after Christmas, but the last thing Lucy had expected to be hearing that morning was that her father had passed away just the morning before.

It had been from a cardiac arrest, apparently. He'd been rushed to the hospital from where he'd been at work, but there hadn't been anything they could do for him. By the time he'd gotten there, it had been too late.

Lucy hadn't been able to do anything but form half words after hearing that. She didn't want to believe it. She'd wanted to believe that it was just a nightmare and that she hadn't lost someone else who meant so much to her. The last year had admittedly been rough on the both of them, just because Lucy had lost her mother and her father had lost his wife and best friend, but at the end of the day, he had still been her father and she loved him.

But Lucy hadn't been able to stop herself from wondering just why she hadn't been told the day before. She had deserved to know _then_ , not twenty-four hours later. She didn't understand that, and she didn't understand how someone she barely knew had been able to make the decision about what was best for _her_.

" _We knew you had another exam that day and we didn't want to distract you."_

" _We wanted you to focus on your education."_

" _We're telling you now though."_

That was what her aunt had told her on the phone that morning when she'd been right in the middle of packing her bags to go home for the winter and the holidays.

But now, all Lucy could do was stare down at her phone in her hand until she couldn't see anything through the tears, because she just didn't know what else to do other than cry. And slide down to the floor beside her suitcase that was half-packed. And just cry some more.

When Levy eventually came back in to get the last of her things packed up for her own trip home to her family, Lucy had only been able to choke out a few words. The rest of that day for Lucy was only spent with her curled up in bed, ignoring all of her calls and texts and staring blankly at her desk. Levy had stayed with her until that night, which was when her own parents had come to pick her up. She'd offered to stay for another night to keep her company until she had to leave in the morning to head home and start taking care of everything, but Lucy had told her to leave.

She had her family to go home to, after all.

Lucy still went home the next morning, as planned. Her trip was much more depressing than she'd thought it to be just two days earlier. She wasn't going home to see her father and spend the holidays with him – she was going home for his funeral, and she'd be spending the holidays alone for the first time in her life.

In the days leading up to the funeral, Lucy didn't do much. Her aunt and other distant relatives were handling most of the affairs that needed to sorted out. She was thankful for that, too. It wasn't like she knew what to do, because when her mother had died, her father had taken care of everything like the wake and the funeral and getting her will to her lawyers. Even if Lucy had known what to do for her father, she was in no state to do so. She stayed in her room because she didn't really have anywhere else to go. That house was her home, and it was _hers_ , whether she wanted it or not.

After the funeral though, everyone started getting on her back about what she was going to do. It was just a few days before Christmas by that point, but no one seemed to understand that she just wanted to her space. Family members she hadn't even known existed were all coming from every direction and causing problems for the lawyers who were taking care of their things, and then there were those who were just being almost annoyingly supportive, just trying to help her through the tough time.

She knew that they really were just trying to be helpful though. Even Levy had dropped by a few times – bringing books, a few dishes to put in the fridge for when she felt like eating, inviting her to stay with her family over Christmas so she wasn't alone. But Lucy really did just want to be left on her own. She didn't really have anyone left. The family members she'd barely even known the name of would disappear as soon as the new year had come. Those staying to help would leave, too. Everyone would leave once they realised there was nothing there for them, and Lucy would be once again left all on her own, because the family she knew and cared about were gone.

She just wanted her peace. She wanted to mourn on her own and in her own way. She didn't want people breathing down her neck all day and telling her that she needed to talk to people.

She just didn't want to. She wanted to be alone, because that's how she was with her father being gone. Her mother was gone, her father was gone, and now it was just Lucy, and she wanted to get _used_ to it. That was why she didn't want everyone doting on her. She didn't want to get too attached to all those strangers coming and going in her house, because she didn't want it to hurt more than it already did to know that she had no one left.

She didn't want to feel like she'd been abandoned. Again.

She just wanted to get used to having that feeling always be there, but no one seemed to understand that.

* * *

Bickslow was alone for Christmas that year. Between his mum having to head back home to Seven to visit one of her dearest friends in hospital who she'd kept in contact with over the years before it was too late, and Gajeel's younger brother Rogue begging him that he come home that holiday season, it left Bickslow all on his own.

He didn't mind it, though. He was used to it. Sure, it's always nice to spend it with someone else, but he could survive the holidays alone if he had to. And the fact that it was just going to be himself that Christmas didn't actually change anything. He was still going to go and get his Chinese take-out and watch his movies like he did every other year. The dorms were mostly empty, so he'd just be spending his night at his mother's house. He needed to go there to get his car to go and get his dinner, anyway, so he figured he might as well just stay there the night and head back to the dorms in the morning before he had to start packing to move into the new one before the next semester started. Why the university made him and Gajeel move to a new dorm every year, he had no idea.

He silently made his way across campus with his hands in his pockets and his hood up and head down. It was snowing that year in Hargeon, and already the ground was covered with a thin layer of snow. It was thankfully only a twenty-minute walk from the dorms to where his mother's house was just off campus, so it wasn't a long trip, especially when he could just cut across the campus instead of going around.

When he saw a girl sitting on one of the benches in the central yard in front of a statue, Bickslow didn't do so much as give a second glance towards her as he passed. It wasn't that odd to see other people on campus over the holidays. Most people did of course go home for the entire winter break, but some people did stay because of various reasons.

But it was only when he heard the near silent sniffle and noticed just who the girl was that Bickslow stopped and _did_ glance back.

It was Lucy who was sitting there. _But she shouldn't be there._

He walked backwards until he was standing in front of her, then only frowned when she sniffled again and continued to stare down at her hands in her lap that were trembling from the cold. "Hey," Bickslow said softly, announcing his presence to the blonde.

Her head snapped up and embarrassment quickly flashed over her face. "Oh. B-Bickslow." She sniffled again and pulled her sleeves down to dab at her eyes again. "Merry Christmas," she whispered.

"Yeah, you too," Bickslow replied with a quirk of his lips. "What are you doing here?"

"The uh… The sorority house was empty and it felt weird, so I just… Went for a walk."

"I meant here in general. It's Christmas. Shouldn't you be at home spending it with your family instead of sitting here in the cold?"

Lucy shrugged. "Would help if I had a family to spend it with," she muttered.

That was why Lucy was back at the university for Christmas. Her house back in Magnolia had been filled with people she didn't want to be around, and somehow it only made her miss her parents even more. Just the year before, right at that very moment, she'd been sitting and enjoying her night with both of them. Even when they'd known that it would be the last one with her mother because of her deteriorating health who had decided she wanted to spend the last of her time at home and not in a cold hospital room, it had been a good time. But that year, she had nothing. She just didn't have anyone to spend her Christmas with that year, and Lucy hadn't been able to see the point in staying in Magnolia for Christmas that year, so she'd come back to Hargeon a few days before Christmas with the permission of the sorority's House Mother.

Even if the campus was almost completely empty and her sorority house was almost painfully silent, it was where she wanted to be.

Bickslow sat down next to her on the bench and she glanced to him again. "My… My dad d-died a couple w-weeks ago," she stammered when she guessed Bickslow was just a little confused by what she'd said. "A-And my mum…" Lucy paused and shook her head when a warm tear fell onto her icy hand. "No-o-one left at home, so that's why I'm here."

"Shit, I'm… I'm so sorry," Bickslow murmured. "I wouldn't have asked if I'd known."

"It's o-okay. You didn't know. But t-thank you."

He looked forward and watched the snow slowly continue to fall right in front of him when silence surrounded them. Bickslow felt horrible for Lucy. It was Christmas night and she was by herself on campus because she didn't really have anywhere else to go or anyone to spend her holidays with. And granted, he was pretty much in the same boat, but he was used to it by then. He could tell that she wasn't, and he could also tell that what she needed right then was a friend.

Levy was back home in Magnolia – Bickslow knew that because he'd seen her Facebook posts during the weeks that had followed the end of the semester – and he was sure that Lucy had other friends who were close to her, but he didn't know them. He knew almost nothing about Lucy, if he was to be perfectly honest, and he still wanted to know more about her, but that wasn't what Bickslow was interested in right then. Right then, he was only interesting in being her friend; being the friend that she needed, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

If it was one thing he had come to learn about her, it was that she was stubborn. He liked that about her though.

Looking back to her with the snow settling in her fair hair and her coat and the tear tracks marring her cheeks, all Bickslow wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and give her the hug she really looked like she needed. If not just to keep her warm because her constant shivering was making him worry that she was going to get sick, but because hugs were just nice when you were sad.

But he couldn't. He wouldn't. He was just going to try and be her friend and he wasn't going to do anything to make her even remotely uncomfortable. So refraining from hugging her and instead just shoving his hands back in the pockets of his leather jacket over the dark grey university hoodie (both items of clothing he wore far too often), he quickly asked, "Do you like Chinese food?"

"Chinese food?"

Bickslow nodded. "Yeah, Chinese food."

 _Why is he asking if I like Chinese food?_ "I… I suppose, yes," she answered, but it was almost as if she was asking her own question instead.

"Good." Bickslow quickly stood up, and then held out his hand to the blonde still on the bench who only stared at the painted nails and like it was a foreign object. "It's Christmas, and no one should be alone on Christmas. Come on, I promise I don't bite."

"You… W-What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Bickslow began slowly, his surprisingly (to Lucy) warm smile only faltering for a second as he continued to look down at her. "That I'm asking if you want to spend your Christmas with a friend."

 _Oh._ Lucy shook her head. "I couldn't. Y-You have your own family and—"

"Nope. It's just me this year."

"I still couldn't… I wouldn't want t-to impose or anything."

Bickslow sighed and rolled his eyes. "Lucy, you wouldn't be. Trust me. Do you want to know what you'd be doing tonight if you spent it with me?" he asked. Lucy just continued to stare up at him in silence. "Eating Chinese take-out and watching really horrible and corny Christmas movies. Nothing special, but it's still Christmas, and it's better to spend it with someone else than on your own."

It wasn't as if Lucy was opposed to it though. Sure, she'd wanted to be alone more than anything over the last couple of weeks, but right then, she did have to admit she was a little lonely. She hadn't wanted to take Levy up on her offer to spend her holidays and winter break with the McGardens, just because she hadn't wanted to impose or make anyone feel like they needed to pity her.

That just wasn't what she wanted.

But it had been lonely, and especially so on that day. The silence was getting to her and she was wishing that she wasn't so alone. And now Bickslow was offering to be the one to keep her company, and she was kind of glad. He was offering to be the friend she was only just realising she really needed, and right then, Chinese take-out and horribly corny Christmas movies sounded really nice.

Nodding, she stood up and slipped her hand inside Bickslow's. He chuckled a little when she did and she felt a blush creep up on her cheeks. _Oh god. It's because I'm holding his hand, isn't it?_ "What?"

"Your hand is fucking freezing," he chuckled.

"I… Uh, sorry."

She tried to pull her hand away, but Bickslow only squeezed her fingers a little tighter. He liked holding her hand, and he figured he wasn't going to get to do it again. "No, it's fine. I don't mind it, and besides, you haven't got any pockets. Wouldn't want your fingers to fall off or anything. You wouldn't be able to write if that was the case."

Her lips quirked slightly. "My fingers aren't going to fall off if you're not holding my hand," she replied.

"Well, it is supposed to be the coldest December night of Hargeon for something like twenty years. They might, you never know."

"It's doubtful, but I'm going to let you believe that you are saving my fingers just because my hands really are cold, and I'm really wishing I did wear something with pockets. But…" Lucy paused and looked up to the man with the pink nose and flushed cheeks from the cold weather, something she had to admit was just a little cute, and then quietly asked, "How do you know I write?"

Bickslow shrugged. "Levy told me. Besides, you were taking my mu—Professor Alma's class," he corrected himself quickly. _Phew. That was close._ "Any slightly intelligent person would assume that someone majoring in English would like reading and writing and stuff like that."

 _I guess that makes sense._ "You pronounced her name wrong though, you know."

"Um, trust me, I didn't," he chuckled nervously.

Lucy nodded. "Uh-huh." Lucy was vaguely becoming aware of the fact that she was quickly becoming distracted and that feeling of loneliness was fading with Bickslow talking to her, but she didn't care. She liked it, and she was feeling incredibly glad for Bickslow being her friend right then. "It's like _Al_ -ma."

Bickslow chuckled again and shook his head. He'd let it slide when she'd been pestering him about finding out what had happened with her professor and his mother that first time he'd shown up to the class, but right then, he couldn't, considering it was _his_ last name she was butchering, too. "It really isn't. It's pronounced _All_ -ma. As in _alma mater_."

"What? No."

"I promise you it is. Ask Levy."

It was a slow walk the rest of the way, and the only time Bickslow actually let go of her hand was when they reached his mother's house, just because he'd needed to go there first to get his car to go and get his food.

"This is yours, right?" Lucy asked as Bickslow started up the car that was parked in the single-car garage.

He pushed his hood back and stared down at the dials and buttons on the console. He couldn't even tell what was for the stereo and what was for the air conditioner or the heater or anything else for that matter. "Yup," he answered. "Birthday present. Only driven it a few times though, so you'll have to figure out how to turn the heater on yourself. Sorry."

Lucy nodded and leant forward to begin playing with each button and dial. She needed that heater going, even if it was only a relatively short drive into the port city.

He kept glancing to her every now and then on the drive, only watching her stare out her window. Bickslow was good with silence, but not then. "Hey, so," Lucy turned to the man with her cheek still resting in her palm. "How'd your exams go?" he asked. "You know, since I haven't seen you since the last day and all."

"I… I guess they went okay," she mumbled.

She turned to look back out the window and Bickslow frowned. Her tone only made him worry again. "What is it?"

"It's just…" She sighed quietly and lifted her hand to wipe the fresh tears off her cheek. "My dad died that day, and I didn't find out about it until the next day."

"Oh, fuck me… I really need to stop talking," Bickslow quickly muttered before grimacing and looking back to the blonde after parking in one of the bays outside the open restaurant. "I'm sorry though. Really. I'll… I'll try not to bring anything about your dad up if I can. I get the feeling it's not something you want to talk about at all."

Lucy smiled weakly at the man before they got out of the car. Finally, someone understood that she didn't want to talk about her father's death. She was so grateful for that, because the plain truth was that she wasn't ready to talk to anyone about it. She needed her time. "Thank you, Voldemort," she said softly, to which Bickslow could only sigh and roll his eyes. "Now… You're paying for mine too, right?"

"I guess I am now," he chuckled. _Not that I would've had it any other way._

* * *

"So is this where you live?" Lucy asked as she followed Bickslow into the small home.

He flicked on the lights then closed the door behind her and watched her look around the lounge area that was at the front of the large room. "Well, yes and no," Bickslow answered.

"What does that mean?"

The take-out bag was dropped onto the kitchen counter and he grabbed some plates from the cupboard. "It's my mum's house. She uh… Works at the uni, so we ended up moving here after I finished high school, so I guess I kind of _do_ live here since everything else of mine is here, but I live in dorms, mostly," he explained, only shaking his head as he unpacked everything. "Sorry. It's kind of confusing."

"No, no. I get it," Lucy said. "Where is she, though? If you don't mind me asking, since you said it was just you this year."

"She's visiting someone back in Seven."

"Seven?"

Bickslow nodded. "I wasn't born here. We moved here when I was eight after my dad… Actually, never mind." _Don't talk about horrible fathers with the girl who just lost hers, dumbass._ Bickslow looked back up to the blonde who stood awkwardly next to the table, her arms wrapped around herself and fingers clutching tightly to her arms. He cleared his throat then and mumbled, "Do you uh… Want to go take a shower or something?"

"E-Excuse me?" Lucy stuttered.

"I just mean because you're still cold and all, like, I can see you shivering, and it's not that cold in here," Bickslow tried to explain. He wasn't hitting on her that time. Not at all. He was just trying to be helpful and make sure she didn't get a cold or anything. "And uh… I could put your clothes in the dryer so they'd be warm by the time you got out."

"Oh."

"You don't have to, though. It was just a suggestion."

 _Well, a shower would be nice…_ She was so cold she was sure she could feel it in her bones, but she figured that had something to do with the fact she was only wearing leggings and a simple three-quarter sleeved shirt under her coat that admittedly was not all that warm. To say she hadn't thought about her clothing choices when going out that night just to get away from the uncomfortable silence in the sorority house would be an understatement. A shower just really would be nice right then. Nodding, Lucy said, "No, I think a shower would be nice. Thank you."

Bickslow nodded then led her down the hall to the second door on the right, between his bedroom and the laundry. "There should be clean towels in there."

"Okay. Thanks, Bickslow."

"No worries. I'll uh…" He lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck while pointing down the other end of the hall with his other hand. "Just be out there."

"What about my clothes?"

"Huh?"

"…You said you were going to put them in the dryer?"

"Oh! Right. Yes. I did, didn't I. In that case I will be right here… Waiting for them so I can go put them in the dryer for yo—"

"Here."

Bickslow turned from where he was leaning against the wall to see Lucy holding out her shirt and her pants with her head just peeking out through the small gap. He hadn't even noticed she'd already gone in and closed the door behind her until that moment, but now here she was, holding out her clothes and probably half naked (if not completely naked) inside his bathroom. "Oh… O-Okay."

She smiled nervously to herself as she closed the door behind herself. "Thank you!" she called out. She had only given Bickslow her shirt and pants, as she assumed he'd be figuring out right at that very moment as she heard the dryer start through the wall over the sound of the water running in the shower. There was no way in hell she was going to give him her undergarments, too. Her clothes, yes, but everything else, no. She'd forgotten to give him her coat though, which was just a little bit of an issue, but she was hoping that by the time she was out of the shower and had her warm clothes back on, she would be okay again. She had no reason to be wearing a coat like that indoors.

With Lucy showering and her clothes in the dryer, Bickslow found himself quickly pulling his phone out his pocket once he was back in the living room and calling Gajeel. He was freaking the fuck out, for whatever reason, and he really needed a bit of advice on just what to do. He didn't even care if it would provide his best friend with an excuse to tease him endlessly.

"Come on, come on, answer your goddamn ph—Hey!"

"I never thought I'd be glad to be getting a call from you," Gajeel muttered. "Hey, Ryos, fuck off for a minute! Go annoy Sting."

Bickslow chuckled as he heard Gajeel slam a door over the whining of his younger brother. "Rogue's still friends with that kid?"

"Unfortunately. The fucker invited him over, too. Now I'm stuck putting up with those fucking brats."

"Redfox, they're eighteen. I don't think you can get away with calling them brats anymore."

"They're always gonna be brats," Gajeel muttered. "Anyway. Why you calling me? Bored or somethin'?"

"Uh, no. You know how there's that chick I like?" Bickslow asked as he sat down on the lounge and pulled one of the boxes from under the tree up into his lap.

"The one that has so totally friend-zoned you? Yeah?"

"Shut up," he mumbled. "But anyway. She's kind of here… Right now."

"Whaddya mean?"

"I mean she's in the shower right now."

"How the fuck did you manage to get that to happen?" Gajeel asked.

Bickslow grimaced as he pulled out what he assumed to be a hoodie of some sort, then chuckled quietly once he saw the white print on the maroon fabric. "Uh, well," Bickslow began again as he chucked the box down to the ground and dropped the article of clothing down to the lounge beside him. "I was kinda walking through the campus 'cause I had to go to Mum's to get my car to go and get dinner."

"Uh-huh."

"And then I kinda ran into her—"

"Your mum?" Gajeel interrupted.

"No. Lucy. Mum's in Seven," Bickslow explained. "Turns out her dad died a couple weeks ago, and I don't know about her mother but I guess she did before. But, y'know, I felt bad for her and all 'cause she was really sad and—"

"And this is basically a repeat of the abandoned puppy thing that happened in high school," Gajeel sighed.

"Hey! It is not!" Bickslow argued. So he might have come across a puppy stuck in a storm drain in his final year of high school and tried to adopt it because he had a few issues with abandonment and the puppy had been super cute and he was a sucker for cute, fluffy, and cuddly things. Lucy wasn't a lost puppy though. "I just… She was really upset, okay? And it's Christmas. I couldn't just leave her out there in the cold. Silly thing probably would've gotten hypothermia if I hadn't asked her over."

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Bickslow heard Gajeel pick up something and throw something – a pillow, actually – and then there was some shouting and Gajeel muttering under his breath. Bickslow had spent enough time at the Redfox house to know that the holidays could get a little messy, and if Sting was there, then Rogue and Sting were no doubt just doing their best to annoy Gajeel. "Stupid fucking brats," Gajeel muttered when he picked up his phone again.

Bickslow chuckled again. "'Tis the season to annoy you," he sang to the tune of the well known carol, "Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la—"

"I will literally get a car right now and drive back out to Hargeon just to punch your fucking face if you don't shut the hell up right now."

"If you say so," Bickslow laughed before returning to his slightly panicked state again. "But getting back to my dilemma now. _Lucy is in my shower right now and I don't know what to do_."

"You could always go and join her…" Gajeel drawled.

"W-What? No!" Bickslow squawked uncharacteristically and glanced to the hall quickly. "No, I'm trying to be nice here, you moron. But I don't know what I'm supposed to do! Fuck me, why am I even so nervous at all?"

"Because you lllike her."

"You sound like Natsu and Gray."

Gajeel rolled his eyes and sighed again. "Well, I dunno, man. What were you planning on doing with her over, anyway?" he asked.

Bickslow shrugged. "Watch movies?"

"That's what you usually do."

"Yeah, and?"

"I thought you were into her."

"I am," Bickslow replied. "Where are you going with this?"

"Well, don't ya maybe wanna try something a little, I don't know, _romantic_?"

"Hell to the fucking _no_."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want her to think that I have ulter—"

"Bickslow?"

He froze, then slowly turned his eyes towards the hall where the quiet voice had come from, and his phone slid from his hand to his lap and then bounced onto the lounge. He was aware of Gajeel asking what was going on, considering he'd just paused mid-sentence, but Bickslow was much more aware of the fact that Lucy was standing under the archway that led to the hall in nothing but a towel.

Well, from what he could tell she had her bra on under it because he could see the bright pink straps, but she was in a towel.

In his house.

On Christmas.

 _I'm going to hell._

"Uh-huh?"

"Are my uh… Are my clothes done?" she asked quietly and she continued to shuffle nervously in the spot she stood. It wasn't like she really wanted to be out there in a towel (well, she had her underwear back on, which were the equivalent of a bathing suit which plenty had seen her in, but still), but she'd had no other choice. Her coat wasn't all that long so she'd had to wrap herself up in the towel she'd used to dry herself to venture out into the living room to find Bickslow.

He blinked, and found himself looking away out of… Well, respect. That _never_ happened. Though he still couldn't stop himself from glancing to her direction every second, because the fact that she was in a towel was still stuck in his head. _Damn it._ "Clothes?" he repeated.

"In the dryer?"

"Oh!" _Yes, you put her clothes in the dryer, you moron._ "Right. Those. They… Yeah, they should be done by now," he mumbled. He quickly looked back down to his lap when he heard Gajeel through the speaker of his phone again, and then held his phone up to his ear once again, then quickly said, "I'll call you later. Tell your parents I said hi 'cause I know they love me more than you do you."

Bickslow didn't even give Gajeel a chance to say anything before he was hanging up and dropping his phone again.

"Who was that?" Lucy asked as she followed him back down the hall to the laundry.

"Some jackass I'm friends with." He pulled the shirt and pants out from the dryer then held them out to the blonde while kicking the dryer shut. "And your clothes," he said.

Lucy smiled and nodded. She figured they'd only been in there for fifteen minutes at most, but they were so warm and she was really glad she'd decided to have a shower and let Bickslow put her clothes in the dryer.

"And with that," he started walking back out into the hall after Lucy hugged the clothes to her chest and headed back for the bathroom. She only looked over her shoulder to see Bickslow pointing in all kinds of directions, his arms crossing over another, before settling in the general direction of the living room just on the opposite side of the wall. "I am going to go back out there."

"Alright then," Lucy laughed quietly. She was almost surprised at herself for doing so, because she couldn't remember even really smiling at all since she'd found out her father had died. But Bickslow… Bickslow had made her do that, and she hadn't expected that to happen.

By the time she got back out into the living room, her mostly dry hair tied up in a loose bun and in just the three-quarter sleeved shirt and black leggings – her go-to attire for when she just didn't care about how she looked – Bickslow was sitting on the lounge with his legs crossed under him, phone in his hand, with the take-out containers and plates set on the coffee table in front of him.

He didn't look up from his phone when she sat down next to him and tucked her feet under her. Instead, he only leant forward to pick up one of the plates and handed it to her. "Just get whatever you want," he mumbled, then quickly finished typing up his message so he could get his own food.

"Can I ask you something?"

Bickslow glanced to the side as he spooned the stir-fry onto his plate. "Sure?"

"You said your mum was visiting someone in Seven, right?" she began.

"Mm-hmm."

She looked down to her plate as she began to push around the food. "But… What about your dad?" she continued quietly. "You were going to say something about him before but then you didn't."

Bickslow raised an eyebrow as he looked back to her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, like… Is he… You know…"

"Alive?" Bickslow guessed, and Lucy nodded. "Well, I assume so," he mumbled. He wasn't quite sure why Lucy was asking him about his father, considering the circumstances, He'd assumed that it would be the last thing she'd want to know about, but Bickslow didn't exactly feel like keeping his mouth shut for some reason. "Don't really care though, to be perfectly honest."

"Why not?" the blonde asked quietly. Her curiosity was getting the better of her right then and she liked how even getting Bickslow to talk about his parents was distracting her from her own internal anguish.

"Because the guy was a jerk."

"What did he do?"

Bickslow glanced to her again and his brow furrowed. "What's with all the questions? And are you even sure you're okay with me talking about this?" Bickslow wondered aloud. "You know, considering it's me talking about hating my dad when yours just died."

She shrugged and took a small forkful of some of the rice. She couldn't use chopsticks to save her life, so she was glad Bickslow had actually brought out forks for them to use. "I'm okay. You're kind of distracting me," she admitted. "And besides… You're the first person aside from Levy that I've _really_ talked to since then, and I think this is the first time we've had a somewhat normal conversation since we met, and I like it. You're different to what you usually are around me right now and it's nice."

 _Probably because I'm not trying to flirt with you or ask you out._ That was something Bickslow didn't want to come close to doing right then, though he did have to admit it kind of stung a little that she'd basically once again made it perfectly clear she didn't exactly like him like he did with her. Though with that little bit of information, Bickslow realised he'd just have to slightly change how he went about continuing to ask her out. Not that he really minded, of course.

But what he did like though, was that he was able to do something like distract her. It wasn't exactly what he'd intended, but he liked that he could, because everyone needed to be distracted from something every now and then. "O-Oh. Well, in that case…" he sighed, leaning back and picking up the T.V. remote from beside him. "The long story short is that he left just before Christmas when I was eight, I think, to go be with his _other_ girlfriend."

" _Oh_."

"Yeah. _Oh_. So I've probably got a few half-siblings at this point, but I really don't care to find out whether I actually do or not. Haven't seen or spoken to him since then, so who knows what he's doing," Bickslow continued. "But him leaving only ended with Mum deciding we move to Fiore, so I guess it wasn't all bad."

"And so you moved to Magnolia then?"

"Yup."

"And then moved here after you graduated from high school?"

"Correct."

"And now she works at the university?"

"Well, she technically started working there when I started high school," Bickslow corrected her absentmindedly. He was too busy staring at the television screen and flicking through Netflix. "But yes, she does work there."

"Is she a lecturer?" Lucy asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"What does she teach?"

"Li—" Bickslow cut himself off suddenly then turned to look at the blonde who was only staring at back at him with those doe eyes of hers. "What's with all the questions?" he asked instead. It wasn't like he didn't want Lucy to know who his mother actually was. It was just more of a case that he liked the mystery of it and he was sure her reaction would be far more priceless if she found out at a later date.

Lucy shrugged and took another bite of her food. "Just wanting to get to know you," she answered with an innocent smile. "So, what does she teach?"

Bickslow only gave her a mischievous grin before turning back to the T.V. screen. He wasn't going to tell her who his mother was. Not that night, anyway. "Is there anything you want to watch?" he asked instead.

The blonde sighed and shook her head, and only made a mental note to ask Levy if she knew anything about Bickslow's mother. "No. Whatever you want is fine." Though, when he suddenly selected _The Polar Express,_ Lucy raised an eyebrow and stared at him in disbelief. "Aren't you a bit old for _The Polar Express_?"

"Yes, probably."

"So don't you think you shouldn't be watching it anymore?" she said slowly. He could hear the utter disbelief in her tone, and it only proved to keep him smiling. "It's a stupid kids movie."

"Have you even seen it before?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Then you don't know that it's really not that bad," he interrupted. "Besides, I've been watching this every year since I was a kid, so it's more of a tradition than anything to watch it now."

She pursed her lips and began to look around the room once more as the movie began to play. There was absolutely nothing in the room apart from the Christmas tree next to the lounge that made it really feel like Christmas. The lights weren't even on on the tree. But for some reason, the lack of Christmas decorations didn't seem to surprise Lucy all that much from what she'd just learned about Bickslow. It seemed to make sense, actually.

Looking back to him after placing her empty plate back on the coffee table next to his, she quietly said, "You don't exactly like Christmas, do you?"

He glanced to her from the corner of his eyes. "Not particularly. What gives that away?" he mumbled.

"Well, to begin with, you didn't seem to mind all that much that it was just going to be you for Christmas, given that your mum is out of the country. Plus, you said your dad left just before Christmas, so I can see how that could be part of the reason why you don't particularly enjoy the holidays," Lucy explained. "Also, there's no lights out the front, and you don't have your tree turned on either."

He glanced over his shoulder to look back at it and found out she was right, then looked back to the blonde and did nothing but stare at her. It wasn't exactly a secret he didn't enjoy Christmas, but still, Bickslow was almost amazed that she'd picked up on that from just a few things he'd said. "You're really quite observant, aren't you?"

Lucy nodded. "Very. But… If it makes you feel any better…" She brought her knees up to her chest to wrap her arms around them and rest her chin on top of them, then whispered, "I don't think I have a reason to like Christmas anymore, either."

"How come?"

"Both my parents died in December," she whispered. "My mother died on the 26th of last year."

"Jeez, I'm sorry," he mumbled.

She shrugged. "She was really sick. There wasn't anything anyone could have done. I just… Don't think I'll be able to enjoy the holidays for a while."

Bickslow frowned and glanced back to the movie playing. He could try and cheer her up and tell her Christmas was overrated, anyway; that not every single person needed to love all of that Christmas spirit and joy and all that kind of crap, but he didn't think it would work, especially if she'd been the kind of person who did love the holidays like most people did. It sucked that both of her parents died within just a few weeks of each other in different years, it really did, and Bickslow felt incredibly sorry for her. But things would get better. She'd hurt for a while, and the holidays would probably hurt just as much as she did for the next couple of years, but she'd get better. And Bickslow really wanted her to as well.

But right then, he just didn't know what to say. He seemed to think that was the best thing, anyway. Instead, he only picked up the maroon hoodie that was still sitting next to him and tossed it to the blonde. He couldn't help but smirk when it only landed on her head and she let out a surprised yelp. "You're still cold," he stated when Lucy only gave him a blank look.

So she had been just a little cold and had been about to wrap herself in her coat, but she'd tried to avoid it just because it would've been weird to be wearing a coat designed to be worn outdoors. "O-Oh. Okay. Thank you…" she mumbled. Pulling it on over her head and instantly feeling warmer, Lucy looked down at what was printed on the front of it and the corner of her mouth curled up into a smirk. " _'Medical students cuddle better'_? Really?"

Bickslow shrugged. "What? It's true."

"You're not a med student."

"Not yet."

Lucy arched an eyebrow. The movie was long forgotten to her right then. "You want to go to medical school after you've graduated?"

"That's the plan," he mumbled. It occurred to him that he should have probably tried to stick with the whole story about how he was actually an English major, but he figured it was pointless. Lucy was obviously smart, and it was also obvious that she knew he really wasn't someone enrolled in any type of course to do with the literary arts.

She smiled softly at him before finally turning her attention to the movie that was still playing. She didn't find it surprising that that was what he wanted to do, since she figured that he was getting some kind of science degree, and if anything, Lucy found herself liking it. She never would have guessed that the guy who'd called her _Cosplayer_ when they'd first met would be a huge fucking nerd and want to be a doctor. "Then I hope you get there," she whispered, and then finally began to watch what she was still sure was just a stupid movie for kids.

Of course, she was proved wrong when she found herself really enjoying it. From smiling at the hot chocolate song, gasping and wondering at just who and what the man on the top of the train was, to laughing at the antics of the train engineers. Bickslow only teased her about that, though, but when she ended up falling asleep on his shoulder before the movie had even ended, he only silently and carefully laid her down on the lounge and covered her with a blanket so she could sleep undisturbed.

And when he dropped her off back at the sorority house the next morning, it was only then as he watched her disappear into the pink and white house that he realised she still had his maroon hoodie on.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes at the end.**

* * *

Lucy saw Bickslow more than a few times over the remainder of the holidays before the next school year started at the end of February. They never really talked, only saying a quick hello to each other if they passed the other when they were on campus somewhere (it was usually Lucy saying 'Hello, Voldemort,' and Bickslow saying 'Nice, Cosplayer,' but whatever), but they saw each other a lot.

The weather started warming up a little in January, though it had still been just a little too cold for Lucy, so most of the time when the empty sorority house got too quiet and too lonely, she went and sat in the library and started going through the novel for that semester – she was taking another one of Professor Alma's classes that semester with Levy, and honestly, she couldn't be happier. If she could get her as her teacher for all three years there, she'd be over the moon.

It was when she sat in the library at her little desk, her laptop and books out in front of her as she just stared out the window beside her and to the lake and park in the centre of campus, she noticed that a particular friend of hers liked to go running. At first Lucy hadn't noticed it, but once she had, she realised that it was always at the same time every morning and so when it got closer to that time each morning she was in the library, she found herself looking out the window and getting distracted more than usual.

Bickslow didn't notice her at first, either. He was usually just too busy looking forward on the damp path from the overnight rain to look to pay attention to the buildings of the campus he'd been living on for three years.

He liked running, though. He never really did it at the end of the year because his thirty-minute jog could be time spent studying for his exams, and it didn't help that November and December were the two coldest months of the year in Hargeon. He didn't exactly want to be out running in that when it was raining most of the time, either.

But come the start of the year, he was out there, just because he didn't really have much else to do, and when Gajeel was staying at home for a few more weeks before coming back to campus, Bickslow had to do something with his time. He didn't exactly have many people he talked to, but that was fine.

When he looked to the library as he ran past it one morning though, and saw a certain blonde lift her head just at the right time, Bickslow hadn't been able to help just grinning at her through the window as he continued running. That had almost become an instantaneous and natural reaction from him every time he saw her.

And Lucy had seen him smile at her that day, too, even when the path was a good thirty yards away from that wall of the library, and just a little bit lower than the ground that the library was on. But it had made her smile, and so when Bickslow jogged past every day after that, she smiled back at him, because he was her friend and friends smiled at each other.

Well, probably.

She liked smiling at him, though. So she was gonna smile at him, even when he asked her out on dates whenever they passed each other and she said no.

* * *

"I'm so glad we have Professor Alma again!" Lucy beamed as she walked into the lecture theatre with Levy beside her.

The blue-haired woman only arched an eyebrow at her. "You just pronounced her name right," she mused. That hadn't happened at all. And sure, Levy knew she could have corrected her best friend the year before because she'd had a full six-months to do so, but she'd let it slide just because they rarely had to actually say their professor's name. Plus, Lucy was stubborn, so she would've no doubt argued it and Levy would've just given up at some point.

But Levy had only come back to campus a few days before classes had started again, so she'd only been there for a week by that point, and all of a sudden, her best friend was saying their favourite professor's name correctly. It was weird.

"Well, someone might have pointed it out that I've been saying it wrong this entire time," Lucy answered, blushing a little because it really was quite embarrassing. She couldn't imagine how much worse it could have become if she'd said the professor's name wrong to her face, because even when the woman mostly preferred being called by her first name – Olexa – by her students, Lucy still liked Professor Alma the best.

"And was that someone Bickslow?"

"Mm-hmm. And, he said that I should ask you if I didn't believe him. So why didn't _you_ correct me?"

Levy shrugged as they took their seats in the third row of the middle block, setting their bags on the bench in front of them. "I didn't see the point in correcting you," the smaller woman smiled apologetically. "But speak of the devil…"

Lucy sighed and shook her head – partly to hide her smirk that she aimed down at her things in front of her – as the actual devil himself, Bickslow, aka Lord Voldemort, came through the lecture hall's doors and had that ridiculously infectious grin on his face. She'd been secretly hoping that Bickslow would show up to her Literature in History 102 lectures even if it was more than strange that she thought that considering she'd almost hated it for the last few weeks of the previous semester, but she was still kind of glad to see him then. He was fun to talk to, as she'd realised at Christmas, and even if he spent the entire lecture watching cat videos on his laptop, she liked that, too.

They were cute.

"I like your jumper," Bickslow said as he sat down next to her.

Her cheeks flushed again slightly as she looked down to the maroon coloured hoodie she was in fact wearing. It was the one she'd basically stolen from him. Though, she had been intending to return it before classes had started. She just never got around to it, and then she remembered how warm it was and it was so nice to sleep in… And when she'd been being dragged out the sorority with Levy that morning because they'd had a short lecture at eight in the goddamn morning, she hadn't really had that much time to put effort into her appearance that day, so it was just jeans and a hoodie that wasn't even hers and was too big for her. She didn't care, though. It really was warm, and that made up for the slightly weird stares she'd gotten from a few people when she'd been walking between buildings.

"It's warm, okay," she tried defending herself. "You'll get it back eventually, don't worry."

"What makes you think I want it back?"

"I, well… Because it's yours…"

Bickslow shrugged. "Nah. Don't want it. Keep it if you want." Hell, it was probably too small on him anyway, not to mention that he really liked seeing her in it. He'd forgotten she even had it until that moment. "But I think," he mused, "That since I did just give you something of mine, that at the very least, you can go on a date with me."

She smirked. "No can do, Voldie."

"Well, it was worth a shot," he sighed. Was he expecting anything less? Nope. That was still fine. He just liked being her friend, to be honest. He wasn't exactly going to give up on getting a date out of her, though. He was annoyingly persistent when he wanted to be, so at this rate, he figured he'd ask her out so much that she'd say yes just to get him to stop annoying her. He'd take that, though. Hell yes he would.

"But anyway." She was zipping up her pencil case as Professor Alma walked into the room and began setting up her computer for the projector after saying a quick good morning to the room that was still filling up, then said, "You got wet this morning." It had started raining in what Lucy assumed to be the middle of Bickslow's morning run. She'd been in the library by that point since she only had two hours between her super-early morning class and her Literature in History lecture, and Levy had had another lecture to go to so she'd been alone as usual.

Of course, it hadn't stopped Bickslow from smiling as he jogged past like he usually did, and Lucy had had to quieten her giggles because he'd looked strange with his hair so flat and sticking to his forehead for once. His hair now, on the other hand… Lucy had to admit she kind of liked that _a lot_. It was still a little damp and slicked back just a tiny bit, enough to make it just a _little_ less odd, though whether it was wet from the rain still or a shower, she didn't quite know. She assumed the latter though, just because he smelled so good that she was sure she was actually going crazy for wanting to just cuddle him.

Bickslow nodded. "I did indeed. I got very cold, too."

"Aw, poor baby."

"Yes, poor me."

"But you survived."

"True, but it would've been nicer if I'd had someone to warm me up," he joked. He only leant forward on his elbow to glance to Levy, and he was smirking as he added, "Gajeel isn't much for cuddling with anyone that's above five-four."

"Oh, shut up, you," Levy muttered. She knew it wasn't about her height – he'd gotten over teasing her about her height back in high school (though it wasn't like it was her fault that she was short and he just happened to over six-feet tall), but still. Levy could deal with whatever the fuck was going on between the two next to her, because she didn't really _want_ to know even if she was just a tad curious, but she didn't want to be _dragged_ into it, especially when it was about Gajeel. She didn't like him. She barely knew him! Or at least that was what she told everyone… "I don't want to cuddle with Gajeel."

Lucy elbowed her friend in the side and laughed, "Oh, you _so_ do." She didn't even know who Gajeel was, though, but whatever.

Thankfully, the class starting stopped Levy from suffocating her best friend with the hoodie she was wearing.

* * *

"A word, if you have a minute."

Bickslow should've been expecting that his mother would want him to stay back after her lecture again. No doubt she would want to wonder why he was being a bit of a stalker when it came to Lucy (oh yes, he was still being lectured by Gajeel on that), or she'd ask why he was wasting time coming to a class he'd also already taken in his first year at the university instead of attending his own classes, or maybe she would want to know why one of her students was wearing something that she had most definitely bought for her son.

Or she just wanted to talk to him because she was his mother, which was also likely.

"Anything for you," Bickslow grinned, and he went and sat himself on the desk next to her podium as Lucy hesitantly followed Levy out of the room (and by _hesitantly_ , Levy was quite literally having to drag her best friend out of the room).

Olexa just rolled her eyes. "Now, do you wish to tell me why you're coming to one of my lectures again?" she asked. She wasn't going to pack up her computer or shut down anything, purely because she had another lecture in the same room in just half an hour, and there were even some students staying in the room since it was raining yet again and they were just biding their time. "It's not because of that same girl again, is it? The one whom I noticed was wearing something that looked remarkably similar to something that I was sure I gave you for Christmas…"

"Ah, well, it's a bit of a funny story about that, actually," he laughed nervously. "Well, it's not, actually. It's kind of sad, to be perfectly honest."

"Are you going to tell me this sad story?"

He shook his head. "I don't think I should." It didn't feel right telling his mother about her parents and family situation (or lack thereof) for some reason. "But basically, she just came over for Christmas and she ended up borrowing it because it was the first thing I grabbed since she was cold, and she forgot to return it. No big deal."

"Uh-huh… But she's still the one you like, yes?" Her son only shrugged, and Olexa smirked. "Well, I'm not going to get involved with that." God no. She didn't want to get involved with her twenty-one-year-old son's love life. Not a chance in hell. She would, however, continue to think it was cute, though.

"Good."

"But, I do have to ask," Olexa continued. She was scrolling through a few emails on her phone then. "You're not skipping your own classes just to be here, are you?"

"Nope," he answered. "Though, I did have to change one of my tutorials." The scowl his mother gave him then had him chuckling quietly. So yeah, he really did have somewhere else to be, but after finding out from Natsu and Gray who had found out from Levy that Lucy had a class with his mother at that time on Tuesday mornings a little before noon, Bickslow had just had to fix his timetable. He couldn't miss his mother's lecture. Thankfully, his immunology class could easily be moved to a different slot.

But Bickslow still took that as his cue to leave. His Tuesdays were busy that semester, having three back-to-back lectures starting with his mother's lecture at eleven. He had other places to be right then. Like his one-fifteen lecture, for example.

So getting up from the table, he was quickly kissing his mother's cheek – not that anyone in the room cared because they all knew who he was to her, somehow, which was great for him, not so great considering he'd built up a bit of a reputation in three years on a large campus – and walking back towards the double doors to go walk in the rain. "Anyway, gotta go!"

Olexa sighed again. "Enjoy your day," she sang.

When Bickslow got outside and instantly felt the cold bite through his jacket – apparently his faded grey military jacket wasn't all that warm anymore – he found himself wishing he'd worn something other than a t-shirt under it. Oh well. As he shoved his hands into his pockets though and kept under the roof a bit to keep dry before he grabbed his umbrella from his bag, he was surprised to see the blonde getting up from a bench just outside the building.

"You're still here."

Lucy shrugged.

"Where's Levy gone?" Bickslow asked as she fell into stride beside him.

"She had to go to another class," she answered as they stepped out into the rain beneath the safety of the umbrella together. Lucy was thankful that she'd actually waited for Bickslow, even if it was only just because she was curious, purely because she'd forgotten her umbrella that morning when Levy had dragged her out of bed, and she wouldn't be going back to her sorority house until later that afternoon – she preferred to hang out in the library those days where it was warm and quiet.

"Aren't you two doing the same course?"

"Yes, but, Levy started at the beginning of last year so she's six months ahead of me. Only some of our classes are the same this semester."

"Oh. That's right." He remembered Levy telling him that once when he'd asked why he hadn't seen Lucy until then. "Well, anyway, why'd you wait? I'm sure you have better things to do with your time, like hang out in the library like the nerd you are."

Lucy smirked as he nudged his arm. "Oh, shut up. You're a bigger nerd than I am," she giggled. She just happened to like the library because it was warm and quiet. Bickslow, though… He was a _science_ nerd. And a giant dork. But a nerd nonetheless.

"Nerd and proud, baby."

She rolled her eyes at that. _Yeah, he's most definitely a dork, too._ "But as to answer you question…" Lucy was blushing then, as she realised, and she didn't meet his eyes as she continued, "I wanted to ask you about Professor Alma."

 _Hurrah! She got the pronunciation right!_ "Yes?"

"Are you two like… _You know_ …"

Bickslow paused in his step and just stared down at her, an eyebrow raised. "You're asking me if I'm sleeping with a professor, aren't you?" She shrugged, and he let out a bark of laughter. It strangely and unfortunately wasn't the first time he'd been asked that. Sure, it was kind of his own fault because he didn't care if anyone saw him kiss her cheek or hug her or whatever, and that was bound to cause some people to wonder (and then some asshole had started a rumour back in his first year when he'd been in her class that he was doing her, because they hadn't known she was his mother). But every time he did get asked that, he couldn't help but find it funny.

Of course, Bickslow was too busy laughing at her as they slowly began to walk again that he couldn't even bring himself to look disgusted – which he was, because _gross_ – so Lucy found herself just a little offended. And embarrassed. Trying to make an excuse for her apparently odd question, she continued, "W-Well, I mean, I've only seen you talk with her a couple of times, but you seem so… relaxed around her. I know it's none of my business if you are, because I know that some people do it, even if it is completely unethical… I'm just curious, because I feel like she's not _just_ a lecturer to you." Lucy was just completely certain that there was something else there she wasn't aware of. What _that_ was, though, she wanted to find out.

"Well," Bickslow sighed, "I'm not sleeping with her. I can promise you that."

"Okay…"

"But she's not exactly _just_ a lecturer to me."

"Then what?" Lucy asked. So she'd been right, obviously, but now she wanted the rest of it, damn it!

But Bickslow only grinned at her when they stopped walking again – the building the last of his lectures for that day were in was just in front of them. As much as Bickslow enjoyed having Lucy not know who he was, or not knowing who her favourite professor was, he figured it was probably about time she found out. He wondered why Levy hadn't just told her already, too, but that didn't really matter.

He knew he could still have some fun with Lucy, though. She would probably be annoyed with him for a little while, but that wasn't anything he couldn't handle. "Tell you what," he began. Lucy just watched him, waiting for him to explain the situation. "Ask Levy about _Professor Alma_ and about me, and then anything else you might want to know, I'll tell you after."

Lucy blinked. _Huh?_ Why did she have to ask Levy about those two? She knew that Levy had known Bickslow for a lot longer than she had, but come on, what was her best friend going to know about the man and what he had to do with one of the professors of the English department?

Lucy wasn't going to argue it, though. Nope. She'd do what Bickslow wanted her to do. So nodding, even though she really didn't understand why he was making her ask Levy, she said, "Okay."

"Great!" He was a little too excited about what would happen. Telling her that Olexa was his mother himself just wasn't fun enough. He handed her the umbrella then, much to her surprise, and said, "Here, take this." And, to her blank though slightly perplexed expression – that he thought was a little cute – he added, "I've got four hours of lectures in that building over here, so I don't really need it right now."

"Oh, but…"

"It's an umbrella, Cosplayer. I can buy a new one."

She nodded again. It would save her from getting soaking wet on her way to library again, so she would accept his umbrella graciously. "Well, thank you."

And as they went their separate ways, Bickslow was grinning as he was walking backwards to the medicine, dentistry and health building that his classes that day were in, and he called out to her before she got too far away, "Don't forget to ask Levmeister!"

Like Lucy would actually forget to do that.

* * *

It was when Levy came to meet Lucy in the library a little later that she asked her about Bickslow and Professor Alma. Levy had barely had a moment to sit down at the table where Lucy sat on the third floor in the not-so-quiet study area before the blonde was asking, "Hey, Levs, can I ask you something?"

Levy smiled sweetly. "Of course you can." She figured it was about one of the classes that she was taking that semester that Levy had done the previous semester.

"Well, it's about Bickslow," Lucy said, surprisingly to Levy.

"Oh?"

"He said to ask you about him and Professor Alma."

The blue-haired woman's eye twitched and her lips curled up into a smirk. "Oh did he now?" she drawled. She made a mental note to have words with Bickslow later – how dare he make her get stuck in the middle of it!

Because Levy knew exactly what was going on now. Lucy must have no doubt said something stupid (she did that sometimes), and now Bickslow was deciding that Lucy could find out who he really was. Or really, who his mother was. It wasn't a bad thing, though. Levy just knew that Lucy would probably freak out a little, and it wasn't exactly like Levy _wasn't_ going to tell her. She hadn't before because she just hadn't seen a reason to.

"Mm-hmm," Lucy nodded. "So? What is he not telling me?" The guy made her too curious for her own damn good, and that was never a good thing.

Levy only sighed. She might as well just get to it. "Bickslow's last name is Alma."

"Yes, and?"

"Professor _Alma_ is his mother."

"What? No." Lucy sat up suddenly. "That can't be right." That was impossible. She couldn't be his mother. He would have told her if that was the case.

 _Actually, no, scratch that – he wouldn't have._

Of course he wouldn't have told her! He was too much of an asshole to do that, because he liked playing games with people. That, Lucy had already realised. She had known his mother was a lecturer at the university, too, because he'd told her that much when she'd asked about his parents at Christmas. But he'd never told her just what she taught, and if anything, it had been the _one_ thing he'd refused to let slip.

"That son of a bitch!" she hissed, and she got harshly shushed by one of the library assistants who was putting away some books on that floor. "She's his mother?!"

"Yup."

"No way."

"Yes way," Levy sighed.

The worst part about it was that now Lucy could see it. They looked similar from what Lucy could tell from her memory, and she was sure that if she could just sit right in front of her favourite professor and just stare at her features, she'd see a lot of Bickslow, too. Or maybe she'd see a lot of Professor Alma in Bickslow if she stared at Bickslow.

But she wasn't going to stare at Bickslow. Well, maybe. She might. She wasn't sure yet.

What she was sure of, however, was that she really wanted to go and yell at him because she felt really, _really_ bad about assuming that he was sleeping with her.

And also, probably, yell at him. That too.

* * *

Bickslow was so very tired. The first week back was always tiring, contrary to what he'd once thought. He'd been there for three years already, having started his fourth year there, but since it was now his third year in the biomedical degree, the expectations were a lot higher.

Thankfully, he only had two more years left. And then, you know, just four years of medical school, and that wasn't even counting how many years it would take him to become a surgeon, which was what he wanted. He already knew he had a very long road ahead of him, so it was a good thing he was already a coffee addict because he figured he wouldn't be sleeping any time soon in the next decade.

Unfortunately for Bickslow, though, by the time he was getting back to his dorm that he shared with Gajeel – the same one they'd been sharing for three years already, and it was a wonder that they'd never been reassigned at the start of each year, not that they were complaining about it – he already had someone waiting for him. Opening the door, he was greeted by Lucy sitting on his bed.

That couldn't be a good thing. And of course, just to make things worse, as he walked in and closed the door behind him, he could see Gajeel glaring at him too from where he sat on his bed with his laptop on his lap, no doubt already working on an essay. Gajeel liked his privacy just as much as Bickslow did, though the man was much more antisocial than Bickslow.

Gajeel didn't like people visiting their dorm room. It was small, and it was kind of gross because they were guys and they weren't exactly neat – Bickslow was most definitely not a neat freak, though he liked to call it organised chaos, whatever the fuck that meant – and having two people in that one room each night was hard enough. They didn't need a third, even if it was just for a 'quick' visit.

Having Lucy sit on Bickslow's bed and waiting for him for the last half an hour had been hell for Gajeel. Silent, yes, which was what he liked, but still hell. He was going to have to inflict some harm on his best friend later, that was for sure.

It wasn't like Lucy had wanted to stay, though. She felt so out of place and she'd had to resist the urge to clean. Everything was just so… messy. Or maybe it was more unorganised than it was messy. Bickslow's side of the room was much more unorganised than Gajeel's. Bickslow just had so much clutter, _and holy fucking hell this guy is a giant nerd._ The periodic table on the wall didn't surprise her much, but there were a few things in there that did surprise her.

Like the _Game of Thrones_ poster, for example. She'd never seen it personally, though Levy raved about it occasionally. And the giant tower of games next to the T.V., though Lucy assumed that some of those must be Gajeel's, too, since there was more than one controller on the drawers. The bedspread was another matter entirely – the guy literally had a Marauder's Map duvet cover, though the pillow she was in fact hugging slightly because she'd wanting to make herself slightly more comfortable was scarily accurate for the situation considering it had 'Mischief Managed' on it. And it also smelled like him, she figured. Which was so good that it was bad.

And then there was the fact that his laptop that he took to every class was covered in all kinds of stickers, and he always had a few dorky shirts that she didn't really understand most of the time, and she could've sworn she'd seen an anime convention pass on his desk somewhere, too. The guy was an epic nerd.

And he looked a little embarrassed as he walked in. Scared, because Lucy was kind of scowling at him and he knew why, but embarrassed because Lucy was in his goddamn dorm room and… he wasn't exactly sure how clean the sheets she was sitting on were, because his blanket had kind of folded over and he never had the energy to make his bed so he just left it.

"So this is a surprise," he mumbled, and he smiled a little nervously as he tried to ignore Gajeel. He already knew that he was most likely going to end up in a headlock as soon as the blonde was gone.

"Is it?" Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't think it is."

"Well, yeah… I mean, you're kind of in my dorm room… It's surprising and weird."

"It's not that weird." Okay, maybe it was, but not really. "And besides, you've been in my room before, and I didn't say it was surprising or weird then, did I?"

"No, but that was different."

"Barely."

"Will you just hurry the fuck up so you can leave?" Gajeel cut in suddenly.

Lucy huffed in annoyance and she folded her arms around the pillow a little tighter – something that only proved to make Bickslow raise an eyebrow in turn. "Is this the one Levy likes?" she asked Bickslow, mostly ignoring the bitter man on the other bed.

"Oh yeah. This is him," Bickslow laughed. "And he likes her, too—Oi, what the fuck was that for, you asshole! Don't throw things at me!"

"Then don't say stupid shit!"

Lucy just sighed as she found herself momentarily forgotten as Bickslow threw the pillow that Gajeel had thrown back at him. So Bickslow's best friend and roommate was just an asshole. Why Levy liked him, she had no idea. But whatever – maybe Levy just liked the entire 'bad boy' thing.

"But anyway," she suddenly said, clearing her throat and making the two 'men' _(really, how could they both be twenty-one?)_ stop and look up at her where she remained perched on Bickslow's unmade bed. Bickslow managed to free his neck from Gajeel's arm and picked himself up from the ground when the black-haired man removed the knee from his back. Lucy got down from the bed then and stepped up to Bickslow, and poked him in the chest as she said, "Why didn't you just tell me she's your mother?!"

Bickslow shrugged and his lips curled up into another playful smirk. "You didn't need to know," he answered.

"I accused you of sleeping with her, you jackass. Of course I needed to know!"

"You're not the first person who has, don't worry."

"Okay, fine," she agreed reluctantly, and stepped back a little. _God, why does he have to be so tall?_ "But you still should've told me before. I mean, I was butchering _your_ last name for _weeks_. That's embarrassing."

Gajeel looked up again and joined back in the conversation with a smirk. "Really? How the fuck do you get that wrong?"

It was Lucy who reached for the pillow behind her on the bed and threw it that time, and Bickslow snickered as his best friend just sat there stunned, before shrugging and going back to whatever it was he had open on his computer. Sighing as Bickslow sat down at his desk by his bed, Lucy asked, "So I'm going to assume that you being her son is why you get away with coming to her classes? And how do you even know which ones I'm doing, anyway?"

"Firstly, yes," Bickslow answered. "Also, she generally just doesn't care if someone just turns up to her classes to sit in the room. As for how I know which exact classes you're in…"

"He asked Natsu," Gajeel answered for him, and Bickslow just pointed to him and grinned. Apparently, Natsu knew Lucy's timetable better than he did his own, but that was what his boyfriend was for. Without Gray, he'd have absolutely no idea where he was supposed to be and at what time. Sometimes Bickslow wondered just how Natsu even managed to get into university at all. Sure, the guy was most obviously smarter than he looked, but still…

 _Ah, right._ Bickslow knows practically all of her best friends from high school, and most of them go to that university. She should've known. "Well, I'm not even going to comment on how weird it is that you come to my lectures _just_ to ask me out." She'd gotten over that, to be honest. Really. And besides, it wasn't like he meant it. He only asked her out because he liked annoying her.

"It's not _all_ I come for," Bickslow answered. "I come to annoy you with cat videos, too."

"So I've noticed," she sighed. "Still, I wish you would've told me who she was. I feel stupid now, so I hope you're happy."

"Ah, you'll survive. Just think, though: every time you see your favourite professor, you'll get to think of me!"

"Bix, I don't think she wants to do that," Gajeel chimed in again.

He frowned. "Really? That's a little depressing."

"Okay, you two are absolute dorks. I need to get out of here before your idiocy spreads or something." Seriously, those two were just… Insane. Bickslow alone was insane. "And just for not telling me about Professor Alma being your mother," she added over her shoulder as she pulled the door open. Bickslow was swinging back on his chair and looking at her upside down with a wide grin, as usual – _yes, catch the idiocy! Love me!_ – as she continued, "I'm most _definitely_ not giving you your hoodie back."

But that was really more than fine with Bickslow.

* * *

 **So I managed to write this today, yay me. I thought I'd procrastinate more, but apparently not. I like these shorter chapters because they're easier to get out.**

 **Anyway. I mentioned in _Shattered_ that I wanted to spend a lot of time on this to get it finished up so I'd have more time to focus on my main stories... But it didn't quite happen. I started writing an entirely new story after finishing Shattered, but that one, I'm not going to be posting until I have it all written. **

**(If anyone wants to know what that one is about: it's a BixLu, and it's a divorce fic and they have a teenager, and it's a modern AU, and there's probably only going to be like 7-8 chapters and they're short chapters. I just needed to write it, okay, even if I did consider having it be a CoLu at some point.)**

 **This story, though... Is still short, which is why I want to spend time on it. I have a lot of stories I want to write and I don't want to be writing like, ten at once, contrary to what my current story status says. (Things like this and _Neighbours from Hell_ and _Brothers, Sisters, and Unfortunate Husbands_ don't count.) So yeah, I'll probably be spending some time on this to get it finished, so if you read my other stories, then don't expect updates on them for a while. I'm not sure when I'll have chapters ready for those.**

 _ **(But if you're a reader of How I Met You, the LaLu prequel was posted and you should really go and read that because it ties in with How I Met You.)**_

 **But anyway! Hope you all liked this chapter. Please remember to let me know if you did!**

 **Until next time!**

 **\- April**


	6. Chapter 6

**So yeah, kinda jumping forward a bit now. This will probably be finished in the next three to five chapters, and I _might_ do an epilogue, depending on how this goes. I always knew this would be short, but I will admit, it's shorter than I originally thought... Oh well. That's not too bad, right?  
**

 **Hopefully you still enjoy this chapter and the rest of them once I post them. They're easy enough to write so that's why there's another chapter now. And please remember to review and let me know if you did! :)**

* * *

That morning, Lucy was slightly giggly as she walked into her second lecture of the day: the one with a Professor Olexa Alma. The first time she'd walked into her lecture knowing that she was, in fact, Bickslow's mother, she'd spent the entire two hours looking between mother and son and not paying attention to the lecture, just because she was trying to figure out how Bickslow was related to someone so amazing.

And she'd spent half of that time elbowing him because he kept snickering because he'd known exactly what she'd been doing.

But she'd gotten over it. She couldn't exactly look at Professor Alma without seeing or thinking of Bickslow, even when the guy sat next to her each week, but she'd gotten over it.

This particular morning, however, she was only walking in in such a good mood (and a little late, too, since Olexa was already there and setting up the slides for the lecture on the screen) because she'd been asked out on a date by someone who was in her group for one of her tutorials, and of course, she'd said yes. The guy was kind of cute. And when said guy walked past her and smiled before sitting down next to one of his friends a few rows behind her, Lucy blushed slightly.

"Alright, why are you in such a good mood today?" Bickslow wondered aloud as Lucy sat down between himself and Levy like she usually did.

"Well, if you must know," she replied. "I have a date tomorrow night."

"A date?"

"Yup."

Bickslow glanced behind them to where the guy who had just walked past was sitting. "Let me guess," he mumbled. "With that guy, too?"

"Uh-huh," Lucy giggled. "He's kinda cute."

Levy groaned into her hands. She knew Lucy was oblivious to Bickslow actually being serious when _he_ asked her out and said he liked her (honestly, he said it so often and to her face that Levy seriously wondered if she was partially deaf), but talking about having a date with another person was just seven kinds of stupid, and Levy actually felt a little sorry for Bickslow.

He was handling it well though, of course. He had no other choice, really. He wanted Lucy to like him just because he really liked her, but no matter what he said or even tried to do, she didn't believe him. That, or she just didn't care. He didn't really know which it was, to be honest. And sure, it was annoying, but he got over it. He could deal with Lucy going on a date, even when she turned him down on a near daily basis, and even when it felt like a kick to the stomach that she was.

"Sure he is," he sighed. He wasn't cute. At all. No. Okay, maybe just a little. He liked to think he was cuter though.

And then that went on for the next few weeks. Lucy was suddenly being asked out by a new person every week, it seemed. And at first she was saying no, because some of them she really did know at all, and others just seemed like they really didn't just want to go on a _date_ with her, but to some, she said yes. Because, well… She was kind of having fun.

Bickslow just sat there each week and took it, too. He'd come to perfect his _Resting Bitch Face_ because of it, which was something his mother had called him out on after one particular lecture. But he couldn't really help it. He got the message that Lucy didn't like him loud and clear, because really, there was only so many times he could be turned down before it actually became a little depressing.

It had never really bothered him much that she did, though. It had just made it more fun for him because she wasn't _easy_ like every other woman he'd ever really been associated with was.

But when he had to sit there each week and listen to her gush to Levy about how great her date the previous night had been, or how horrible it had been because college guys, as she was realising, were absolute jerks and didn't seem to use the _correct_ head to think. Which, sure, Bickslow could say was true when it came to most (himself included sometimes), but it was still annoying, and each week he wondered why he even bothered.

Oh. Right. It was because he really fucking liked her and he loved being her friend, too. Unfortunately, that just meant he was incapable of actually stopping what he'd been doing for too long as it already was.

And that sucked. Really. Gajeel had told him countless times to just get over her, but really, he'd tried to do that before and it had failed. Christmas had really just made him like her more. Levy had tried apologising for Lucy's stupidity on multiple occasions, because she knew that Bickslow was getting frustrated with it even if he didn't make a point of showing it – especially not to Lucy, anyway. But Bickslow didn't want an apology. He didn't really need one. It was his own fault he was feeling just a tad miserable over it all, not Levy's or Lucy's.

But Lucy noticed that Bickslow seemed to get a little… distant, at times. Usually whenever she brought up her dates to Levy in their classes they shared together, too. She rarely saw Levy those days just because they were taking mostly different classes that semester, and Levy had been stupid enough to take extra ones on top of that, so she was always so busy, and she spent more time in the library studying than she did at the sorority. The classes they shared were sometimes the only opportunities they had to talk, and being her best friend, of course Lucy wanted to share everything about her dates and lack of romance in her life.

It really wasn't like she wanted romance, either. It was just fun, and it gave her something to look forward to every now and then, even if almost all of them ended in disaster because everyone she went out with was more interested in getting into her pants than actually getting to know her (kudos to the one guy who had taken her out three times before trying that, though). She never really liked any of them, either, which is what made it so enjoyable for her. Strangely.

Well, kind of.

When it came to Bickslow, though… Lucy found herself a bit confused.

She'd come to really enjoy having Bickslow be in her lectures, even if he was only there to annoy her. He didn't annoy her, though. Not anymore, at least. She just liked him being there, and even when he occasionally found her in the library with Levy when they were studying and joined them (and dragged Gajeel along sometimes, too, which was quite entertaining for both Lucy and Bickslow), she liked that, too.

But then he stopped asking her out or even talking to her as much as he'd used to once she'd started dating… well, everyone (not that it was _everyone_ , but it wasn't exactly like it was something she was all that proud of, either), and she found herself missing it. It wasn't like Lucy would say yes to going on a date with Bickslow, not even in a million years (or maybe just a hundred years), but she had come to see that maybe, just _maybe_ , she cared about him just a little more than she'd thought.

Which was fine. It wasn't the end of the world, nor was it a big deal. She was allowed to like people. And sure, the last time she'd had a bit of a _crush_ on someone, that person turned out to be gay and in love with one of her other best friends, but she really, really doubted that that would happen with Bickslow, too. She considered that practically impossible.

But she still wouldn't date him. Lucy knew he couldn't be serious about liking her, either, and especially not when he asked her out. He was sweet, sure, that much she'd figured out, and he was kind of cute with how much of a nerd and an idiot he was, and he kinda made her feel like she had those forever annoying butterflies in her stomach whenever he gave her that stupidly, annoyingly, infectious grin of his.

But Bickslow didn't like people like her. He liked people like… Like Cana. And Lucy loved Cana and she was so glad that she was her friend, but she wasn't anything like her sorority sister.

Still, though… She missed his company, even when he was still there in her Literature in History 102 lecture each week and sitting right next to her and watching the stupid cat videos he loved so much (they were so cute though). It just wasn't the same anymore, and Lucy knew exactly why.

Because really, what guy wants to listen to chicks talking about guys? Not Bickslow, obviously. Lucy was certain that it was just a guy thing, and that's why he was being different around her.

She was sure of it.

* * *

…What Lucy was also sure of, on the other hand, was that all guys were complete and utter tools. There was something wrong with the vast majority of the male population, or at least those attending Hargeon University. And so when she walked into her favourite lecture of the week on Tuesday morning, wearing her favourite hoodie (that was most definitely hers now), and not really caring about the fact that she'd literally only gotten out of bed thirty-five minutes earlier and had only been bothered to put on some faded jeans and put her hair into a ponytail, she wasn't giggling or blushing because she was in a good mood.

She was scowling. And seething. And most definitely _not_ in a good mood, and both Bickslow and Levy could see that as she sat down between them like she usually did and made to angrily pull her notebook out.

"It's official," Lucy started suddenly, causing the two blue-haired people on either side of her to jump a little. "I'm never dating anyone again." And she wasn't. Nope. Never. Everyone was a jerk and no one was actually a decent human being, apparently, so it was safer for Lucy _not_ to date.

Or at least while she was in college still, anyway. She was most definitely not going to find anyone worth dating in the hellhole she'd unfortunately be living in for the next two odd years.

"I take it your date last night didn't go very well?" Levy sighed. They still had a few more minutes before Professor Alma would be ready to start, and Levy knew that that was more than enough time for Lucy to rant about her date. She already knew it was that, because Lucy had gotten back late and slammed their bedroom door shut and had woken Levy up. And then, when Levy had tried getting her up in the morning for their early class, Lucy had just proceeded to ignore her and sulk in her bed. So she'd left her. It wasn't the first time she'd come home from a date in a bad mood, but they usually blew over by morning.

"No. It did not."

Bickslow only shuffled slightly uncomfortably next to her as she seemingly ignored his presence, somewhat unusually, and continued to get her pencil case from her bag as well as her phone and place them down on the desk.

"Why is it," she turned the pages in her notebook to get to a clean page and just about tore all of the other ones with how recklessly she was turning them, "That every single person that I've been out with recently, has only wanted to sleep with me? Like, did I somehow miss the part where I said that it would only take a _slightly_ nice night out for me to actually have sex with them?"

And really, some of the places that Lucy had ended up in over the last few weeks were not that nice. From dorm rooms where they'd said that they had 'something cool' to show her. To the back seats of cars after seeing a movie, and even in a goddamn alley that had supposedly just been a shortcut. And sure, Lucy was realising that she had been more than a little naïve for even believing some of them, but still – why did so many assume that she was that kind of girl? Others were, sure, Lucy knew that. But she wasn't one of them.

Levy shrugged. "I don't know, Lucy." She didn't know, either. She wished she had an answer for her friend as to why she was being treated so horribly, but she just didn't.

"Well, it doesn't matter now," the blonde mumbled. "I'm just not going to date anyone else. Like, ever. It's not like anyone wants to _just_ spend time with me anyway."

Bickslow side-eyed her for a moment as he looked up from his phone. Was she serious? She was completely serious. "I'm literally sitting _right here_." _He_ wanted to just spend time her. He'd only been trying to make it even more obvious than he already had for the last several weeks alone, but all of his attempts had completely failed.

Spectacularly, even.

Not even the rose he'd been caught running with between his teeth one morning on Valentine's Day before classes had started had gotten the message across. Lucy had laughed at him, because she'd been sitting outside on the bench that morning since the sun had been out for a change, and even when he had _thrown_ the rose at her as he'd run past her, she hadn't gotten the hint.

He'd been almost tempted to get a flashing sign that said _'I REALLY FUCKING LIKE YOU AND I MEAN IT'_ and put it around his neck. But he figured Lucy would still just turn him down. Which, really was fine… Mostly.

It had been fine up until that very moment, anyway. Lucy's complaining and just generally talking about her dates with Levy each week had been slowly driving him insane. And that morning…

That morning, Bickslow was quickly coming to accept that he probably should just give up on her. She didn't like him like that. She couldn't make that any clearer.

Lucy just smiled briefly at her friend before she quickly turned back to her books. "You don't count because you don't actually mean it," she said. "You just ask me out to annoy me, not because you think you'll actually get something from me if I do say yes." And even if she did say yes, it wasn't like he'd get anything, either. Nope.

He didn't like her. He couldn't. He was just there because he liked annoying her, and hell, he'd probably been doing it for too long to stop.

Bickslow had to bite the inside of his cheek then. Levy was looking apologetic once again, but Bickslow still didn't want her to be. "Right then," he said quickly. And then he was picking up his bag and leaving, letting the doors on one side of the hall swing closed behind him. The exams for that semester were just a couple of weeks away, so he most definitely had better things to be doing with his time.

Like writing a lab report that was due in like two days that he'd been putting off because he hadn't really been studying for that class. Or an essay that was worth almost half of his grade in another unit due in a week. Or, you know, actually studying for his actual exams, and not showing up to classes he wasn't even taking just for a girl that he had really, most definitely, been wasting his time on. Just being her friend seemed impossible now, too.

And when Professor Alma started her class after watching her son seemingly storm out of the room (she knew he was storming out, even though no one else would have noticed), Lucy just turned to Levy and whispered, "What was that about?" Had she somehow offended him or something? She didn't know how, but she wanted to, because she was really quite confused.

But Levy didn't exactly give Lucy the answer she wanted. Instead, she just grabbed Lucy's bag herself to pack up her things, and then dragged her out of the lecture hall through the other set of doors, and didn't do a thing explaining wise until they were in their shared room back at the sorority house.

Levy really hadn't wanted to get involved, because she'd really had no reason to, and more importantly, it hadn't been her place to. But when she has to sit through her best friend hurting one of her other friends, then yeah, she's going to get involved. Lucy was blonde, but she wasn't stupid.

Well, most of the time.

When it came to Bickslow though, she was incredibly stupid. And Levy had thought she could put up with it, but she had to draw the line somewhere, and Lucy had drawn that line herself. Levy had no other choice but to get involved, and oh was she strangely looking forward to telling Lucy how stupid she had been. It was a rare occurrence, and she relished those moments.

"Will you please just tell me what the hell is going on?" Lucy demanded as Levy's hands went to Lucy's shoulders and she was pushed to sit on her bed. She wasn't all that fond of skipping lectures, especially ones with her favourite lecturer, and she knew that Levy could never skip one unless it was a life or death situation (or something close to), so Lucy knew that whatever was going on was something important. And damn it, she was curious!

Though when Levy leant down, one hand on her hip and her other just pointing at Lucy's face, Lucy found herself leaning back slightly. Levy could be scary when she wanted to be. "You," the blue-haired woman began, "Are stupid."

"Excuse me?"

"He has been sitting there next to you for _months_ , making it so _painfully_ obvious that he's into you, and you still think he's doing it all just for fun."

Lucy arched an eyebrow at that. "Who? Bickslow?"

"Yes!"

"You're telling me that he's been _serious_ about me this entire time?" she asked. It was almost laughable. And Levy thought _she_ was stupid. Right then, Levy was the one being stupid, not Lucy.

"Yes!" Levy shouted exasperatedly again.

But now Lucy was kind of doubting herself. Levy seemed to certain, so sure of herself and how Bickslow supposedly felt…

He couldn't have been serious. He'd been asking her out since _October_. No one could be stupid enough to chase one girl for that long, let alone go as far as sitting through an extra two-hour lecture each and every week just to actually do it.

But it wasn't exactly like Bickslow was smart. Well, he was – he was incredibly smart, that much Lucy would admit. But he was stupid, too. He'd be stupid enough to do something like that, because if it was one thing she had learned about him, it was that he was stubborn, and could be so persistent that it was borderline annoying.

And now that Lucy was thinking about it, only grabbing the nearest pillow and hugging it to herself as she let her chin rest on the short end of it, she did have to admit that it wasn't like Bickslow had ever hid what his intentions were. Or that he supposedly liked her. On multiple occasions, he'd straight up said the words, _'because I really like you.'_ Like really, how much more obvious could he make it?

Regardless, Lucy hadn't paid much attention to it, because she'd really just thought he'd been messing with her, because he was the type of person to do that. She'd never once considered the fact that maybe, he'd actually been doing all of it – showing up each week to 'annoy' her, studying with them in the library, even just being her friend – just because he'd actually been serious about wanting to go out with her and god forbid actually get to know her like a decent person.

"So I take it I probably made him hate me by complaining about my bad dates?" Lucy mumbled into her pillow. It would make sense if he did hate her and that was why he'd left, because she could imagine that it would have kind of hurt hearing her go on and on about how all of her dates end in disaster. She'd probably be hurt, too, if it had been the other way around.

"I doubt he hates you," Levy replied gently.

"But he should," Lucy said. "I mean, it's not exactly like I've been the nicest to him, considering the circumstances… Especially today. God, I just… I feel so stupid now." And she did. And she felt so incredibly bad about saying what she'd said, especially earlier, that Bickslow didn't count because he didn't mean it.

He did count, though. Sort of. And even laughing whenever he asked her out… She felt bad for that, too.

Levy only sat down next to her and let the blonde rest her head on her shoulder. "You're allowed to have your blonde moments. It's okay."

"I think this is a bit more than a blonde moment, Levs."

"Okay, maybe just a little," Levy agreed with a quiet laugh.

"How did I miss it though?" Lucy mused. "He really was right there, and for so long, too. I just… I wish I'd been smarter, you know? Because I wouldn't have said something so stupid and then he wouldn't hate me, and then I… I wouldn't really hate myself because of it, either."

"Wait, Lucy…" Something wasn't right to Levy. Lucy seemed to care just a little too much for it to make complete sense. "You don't actually… You don't mean that you actually _like_ him?"

Lucy shrugged. "Well, a little, I guess," she mumbled. "But it's not like I would've gone out with him if I'd known he was serious, either."

"Why not?"

"Because… Because he's _Bickslow_ , and I'm _me_ and I'm not even his type. He likes girls more like Cana." She was only just realising that that was really the only reason she wouldn't, now that she knew that Bickslow have never really been joking.

"Lucy, I don't think Bickslow has a type. And even if he does, I doubt he cares about something as silly as _types_."

"Maybe, but it's still not like I can do anything about it."

Levy had to fight to roll her eyes. Her friend was a little stupid, sure, but that was fine. She was realising just how much of an idiot she'd been which was what mattered, and now that Levy knew just how Lucy felt about the other idiot (which was something that Levy had not been expecting to hear in the slightest), she got to play matchmaker. "And why can't you do that?" Levy asked.

"Because even if I did want to go out with him, which I… I don't really know if I even want to do at all," Lucy began, because really, she liked him a little, sure, but she still didn't know if she _would_ go out with him if he asked her again. "And even if he still wanted anything to do with me, what's to say he wouldn't just be like literally every other person I've gone out with? You know, I've… I've heard the things people have said about him." And she'd heard the things people have said about her over the last several weeks, too – somehow her holding out on him had become legendary across campus, which Lucy was suddenly realising might've had something to do with the influx of 'date' offers. Becoming 'famous' in her second _semester_ there wasn't something she was proud of, either. "I don't want that to happen again."

"Something tells me it wouldn't."

"You don't know that."

"I do. He has a sweet side, you know. He's not _always_ a bit of a jerk."

Lucy smiled softly. "I know," she sighed. "But still, I don't think it matters, regardless of how I feel. I'm ninety-three percent sure he hates me."

"Only ninety-three?" Levy giggled.

"Maybe ninety-four."

But she really hoped it was closer to zero, even though she was now well aware of just how much she'd screwed up. And strangely, that seemed more important to her right then, rather than the fact that she was still missing one of her favourite classes just to be upset with herself, which was something she would admit she was doing.

Who knows? Maybe she just wouldn't date anyone else in college just because boys were way too much work.


	7. Chapter 7

_Notes at the end regarding how this ties in with the other story._

* * *

It was the last week of classes before the last of the term papers were due and the end of semester exams began. Where Lucy had been stressing out about her exams for the last two weeks and frantically trying to get all of her assignments finished and finding time to study for all of her classes, just like everyone else, she had also spent those last two weeks worrying about Bickslow.

She'd only seen him a handful of times over those two weeks. He still ran each morning, and since it was nearing summer, she'd permanently moved outside to sit on the bench by the path around the lake on campus or on the lawn with her books in front of her, but he didn't smile at her when he went past. He didn't wave, or say something ridiculous. He just kept running and went on ignoring her.

And that hurt. A lot.

When they walked past each other, whether between classes or in the library, he'd glance to her, but that was it. Even when she tried to say hi to him and get him to talk to her, he just ignored her and went on with his life.

And it was like the more time that passed, the more she missed him. She wasn't supposed to miss him, though. She was supposed to be just getting on with the things she needed to do like he'd been doing a great job of, and not be feeling so completely miserable because of him.

Though really, it was her own fault she felt that way, and Lucy knew that. She wouldn't be so upset or mad at herself if she'd been smarter and hadn't made Bickslow hate her, and he'd still be there if she hadn't been so stupid.

But maybe the worst part about it all was that each lecture she'd had with Professor Alma since he'd walked out and begun ignoring her since he most obviously wanted nothing to do with her now, she'd only spent those two hours turning to the empty seat next to her and wishing that it wasn't empty. She'd be lying if she said she didn't miss the cat videos, too.

Still though, more than anything, Lucy wished she could just talk to him again. Or even just sit next to him in the library and study silently, because she missed his company far more than she should.

So it was the last week of classes, a Thursday, it was nearly midnight, and she was on her way to get coffee from one of the cafes on campus that was thankfully open incredibly late, because she had some work to do back at the sorority house. She'd been at the library until then, but they closed at twelve so she'd had to leave. But as she walked into the coffee shop that had a queue of people both waiting to order and people waiting to get their orders, Lucy wasn't really paying attention to that. She was only noticing the tall blue-and-black haired man standing on one side of the room, just looking down to his phone.

He didn't notice her presence until she went and stood next to him after she'd ordered, and even then, all he did was glance down at her just in time to see her offer a small smile, before he just cleared his throat strangely awkwardly and pocketed his phone. Of course she had to be there, when it was really the one time he couldn't say he had somewhere else to be right that second. If Gajeel hadn't broken the goddamn coffee machine in their dorm room, he wouldn't be having to be going to get coffee in the middle of the night just so he could get his last essay of the semester done before it was due in like eight-something hours.

So sure, Bickslow knew he'd probably been acting a _little_ immature over the last few weeks, but he hadn't really known what else to do. In his mind, ignoring her seemed to be the best way to go about getting the fuck over her, even though it really didn't work at all, because he still, unfortunately, liked her. Just a bit too much, anyway.

"Hey," Lucy said softly after a moment of the most uncomfortable silence she had ever been in in her entire life.

"'Sup," Bickslow mumbled in reply. He still wasn't really looking at her. Just waiting for his coffee to be made, really, because he really did not want to be talking to her. He didn't know what to say to her, because it wasn't like he was mad at her or anything. He was just mad at himself for all of it.

"So… How are you?" she asked.

"Fine."

"That's good." She got that he didn't want to talk to her, but jeez, this was something else. No matter how much he didn't want to hear her voice right then though, she had just a little bit more to say. And then after that, if he really wanted her to leave him alone, she would. "I um… I just wanted to say sorry, too," she mumbled, right as Bickslow's name was called by a barista at the end of the counter.

He only glanced to her once again before stepping forward to collect his drink that had so many shots in it that it should probably be illegal. "What was that you said?" he asked, coming back to stand in front of her.

Lucy looked up with a little more confidence that time, and she stopped fiddling with the plastic tabs in the book she held to her chest, too. "I wanted to say sorry," she said again. "For how I treated you, I mean. I never realised that you were, you know, serious about liking me."

 _Oh, great._ She wanted to bring that up and make him feel like an even bigger idiot than he already did. "You don't need to apologise," he shrugged.

"I do, though. I was really, _really_ stupid, and I guess I was being kind of a bitch to you whenever you asked me out, and I'm just so sorry for that. I get it if you hate me now—"

"Lucy, it's fine," he interrupted her. And it was fine, for the most part. He just… didn't really want to be hearing it right then, so he was stepping back and giving her a small and quick smile as he added, "But uh…. I have an essay to finish for the morning so I've gotta go…"

"Oh… Okay…"

"Um, good luck with your exams and all, too."

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, you too," she whispered. And as she watched him walk past the windows, back towards where the dorms were, she assumed, Lucy only wondered if it was really worth staying up a little while longer to get some more study in, or if it would be a better idea to just skip the caffeine and go curl up in bed and cry. Because she really did want to cry, and she hated that she felt that way.

The semester came to a close and one by one, everyone started heading back to wherever it was they came from to spend time with their families over the month and a half long summer break.

Lucy was staying on campus again at the sorority house – Levy had gone home back to Magnolia, and once again she'd invited Lucy to stay with her over the holidays, but Lucy had once again politely declined. It wasn't like the campus was completely empty over the breaks. She had a few friends that would be there, so she wouldn't be alone (Bickslow was, of course, staying too, but Lucy wasn't even sure if Bickslow was still her friend, so she wasn't even counting him). Everything with her father's death and the estate and will had already been sorted out over the semester, which meant Lucy really did have nothing and no-one to go back to in Magnolia.

And, sure… That hurt, because it wasn't a comforting thought to know she didn't really have anyone left or _someone_ to call home. On paper, she lived with an aunt – the one who had taken care of most of the arrangements with her father's death – but she wasn't Lucy's home. Lucy barely knew the woman. If anything, that same pink and white sorority house was her home, and when breaks and holidays came around, Lucy knew that that would be where she'd stay. Each time. She knew she'd have to get used to being somewhat alone anyway.

Besides, that wasn't the only reason Lucy wanted to stay on campus for the summer break. She hadn't done as well on her exams as she'd hoped, and her final grade hadn't been as good as she'd expected it to be. And, given that the semester starting in just another month a half would be the start of her second year (of three), she knew she had to start working harder. She couldn't be lazy, or let the stress or her emotions get to her like she knew they had been; she wanted to say it was Bickslow's fault that she'd almost failed her exams, but she knew she couldn't do that. She needed to remember what was important, and that was passing and doing well in her classes, and while most people were off enjoying their summer with their friends and their families, Lucy would be studying, revising, and trying to get a head start on her classes for the next semester. Professor Alma had even been nice enough to give her the course outlines and the required readings for the class of hers that Lucy would be taking, as well as tips for areas where she needed to improve. But it wasn't like Lucy had been singled out though. She'd done that with a lot of her students for years.

So Lucy, unsurprisingly, spent most of her time in the library over the break. It was quiet there, and there were books and resources there she couldn't take out anyway. When she ran into Bickslow a few times a week, because apparently he was in there studying a lot of the time – usually at nights, she had come to realise quickly – she just ignored him as he did her. She'd gotten the message he didn't want to talk to her loud and clear, and after their brief and painful conversation in the campus coffee shop, she hadn't tried to apologise or make up for her stupidity.

He didn't want her to, after all.

So she tried really, really hard to get over it; over _him_. Yet… she still couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. She still hated herself for being so moronic, and she kind of hated Levy for not just pointing her idiocy out to her sooner, and she kind of hated Bickslow for being a bit of an asshole and completely ignoring her, too. The least he could do was stop being so immature about it, but nope, he couldn't manage to do that.

But failing to get over herself and Bickslow and then just everything else, is what led to her sitting in the library late one night – some time around 11 p.m. – and just… breaking down.

It was the last week of the break when that happened. She hadn't really intended to do so (but does anyone ever intend to break down?), but she hadn't been able to stop it. It had started with the party the previous night though – that much she knew. She hadn't even wanted to go to it in the first place, because she really wasn't a fan of parties anyway – especially ones that the fraternities were responsible for – but she'd been dragged along by one of her friends after being told that she needed to get her head out of her notebook for more than five minutes.

The problem with actually attending said party was that Bickslow also had, of course, decided to be there, because it was a party over the summer break and how the hell was he not supposed to be there? And, well, he'd of course been drunk, and mostly making a fool of himself, and at some point of the night, Lucy had had the pleasure of walking past him and some redhead in an upstairs hall on her way to a bathroom.

She'd left after that, of course. The one thing she hadn't wanted to see was the guy she still unfortunately liked far too much with his tongue down someone else's throat.

Lucy hadn't even wanted to think about it, yet she'd been sitting in the library in the fourth floor study lounge, trying to finish up a practice essay for her tutor, and had ended up putting Bickslow's name instead of the antagonist's from the story her essay was on. They weren't even similar, yet somehow, that was what she'd ended up typing. At least she could say he was the antagonist of her life.

Well, sort of.

But then the tears had started falling onto her hands as she'd tried to type, and she hadn't even been able to read her notes because her vision had been that blurry. And then somewhere between trying to take deep, calming breaths to bring herself down and trying to just push through and get the last part of her paper finished, she'd just given up. If anyone had walked into the fourth floor study lounge, they only would have found Lucy at one of the large tables in the room, with her forehead on her knees and her arms around them.

That was, in fact, how Bickslow found her though. He had only gone up to the fourth floor because the second floor had been getting too noisy for him to actually get some reading done in – Gajeel was currently having a _Dragon Ball Z_ marathon in their room, so he hadn't been able to stay there – and the fourth floor was always the quietest and most usually empty around that time of night. He hadn't expected to go into the actual study lounge to see a blonde crying in the middle of it though, or at least that was what she looked like she was doing, and it didn't take him very long to realise it was Lucy.

He found himself hesitating as he stood by the glass doors that separated the library from the quiet sanctuary of the study lounge and just inside the room. Bickslow figured that she didn't know she wasn't alone anymore, otherwise she probably would have sat up and told him to either go away or that she was fine, even though he could clearly see that she wasn't, even from where he stood on the opposite side of the room. But if she didn't know he was there, Bickslow could easily just close the door behind himself and go somewhere else. It would be weird if he went and tried to comfort her or something, right? They weren't even friends anymore. And sure, he knew it was his fault that they weren't, because he'd iced her out and it wasn't like Lucy hadn't tried to fix it, he guessed – not that he was sure why, because she hadn't done anything wrong; it was his fault they weren't friends, which was something he really fucking hated.

Regardless of that though, Bickslow only found himself moving further into the room, and as he pulled out the chair next to her and sat down on it, he quietly asked, "Are you alright?"

Lucy hadn't noticed him until that very second, and she hadn't been able to help but let out a small whimper from her surprise. The worst part was that she knew the voice, so even without looking up, she knew who it was, although she had absolutely no idea why he was even talking to her, let alone asking if she okay. So when she did lift her head, mostly just to turn away from him and brush the tears she away, she only answered with, "I'm fine."

It was the worst lie anyone had ever told, but Bickslow couldn't do much about that "Do you maybe want to… talk? About whatever it is that _isn't_ bothering you…?"

"No." It wasn't like she could tell him that _he_ was the one bothering her and had been for weeks.

"You sure?"

Lucy nodded.

"Well, uh…" He got up and pushed the chair back in, and just stood there for another moment in silence as she continued to avoid moving or looking at him – only sniffling – which was… fine, he supposed. "If you want to, you know where to find me."

He got the feeling she kind of hated him those days, especially after they'd talked before exams had started. He figured he deserved it too considering the way he'd been acting towards her, but it wasn't like he could do anything else. He didn't know how to get over her and just go back to being her friend instead of pretending she didn't exist, which he hated himself for even doing because it wasn't really fair. Honestly, there needed to be a book called _'How to Get Over Lucy Heartfilia'_ – he'd buy the shit out of it if it existed.

But even when he _tried_ to pretend she didn't exist, he failed, of course. Dismally. Each and every time, too. He still cared about her too much, and even when he didn't want it to, it hurt knowing that he really did have no hope in hell of ever actually being with her. His parents had a better chance of getting back together than Bickslow did with getting an actual date out of Lucy. Which, sure, was still disappointing, because he'd been slightly optimistic that he would get one date with her because he really could be annoyingly persistent at times, but apparently, it wasn't enough.

He'd seen her the previous night, too. At the party. It was one of the only things he actually remembered from it, but he remembered seeing her walk past when he'd been kissing… someone. That part he couldn't quite remember. He'd left after that, just because he felt bad for it, and he didn't really know why he had.

He just wished things could go back to normal, though.

Normal where he wasn't trying to avoid her because he basically just didn't know how to be shut down.

Normal where Gajeel and his own mother weren't telling him to just get over her and, in his mother's case, just focus on his studies – _'romance can come later.'_

Normal where he didn't feel so ridiculously stupid, or even miss her, which he unfortunately did. Too much.

Levy had had enough.

She didn't really like stupid people. And not the people that didn't know how to put their two brain cells to use – those, she could deal with. Mostly.

It was the idiots she didn't like. The ones who had brains, apparently, but did really, _really_ stupid things.

Like Lucy and Bickslow. Those two were idiots. In fact, they might even be bigger idiots than Natsu, which was quite a feat. Still though, even if by some chance that Natsu was still a bigger idiot than both of them combined (Levy doubted it), Bickslow and Lucy were still morons she didn't want to deal with.

First it had been Lucy being blind and just a dumbass because Bickslow had literally been sitting _right next to her_ for so goddamn long. Levy had thought that would be the only time she would have to get involved, though. She had thought that once Lucy realised it that things would be fine again, and, god forbid, they might actually start dating – though really, it wasn't like Levy cared if they did. She'd really just been too busy trying to figure out just how the hell Lucy had gone from complaining about him on a near daily basis to actually liking him.

But that hadn't been the only time she'd had to get involved, of course. Many times – more than she would have liked to – she'd had to lend Lucy a shoulder to cry on. She'd never once seen the woman cry over something as silly as a _boy_ in the years she had known her.

And then there'd been that one phone call at the end of the summer break where Lucy had apparently been in the library and she'd almost been an inconsolable mess because of the _other_ moron. Truthfully, though, Levy hadn't quite understood why Lucy had been so upset then.

But once the semester had started once again, Levy realised she just couldn't take it anymore. It had been over two months since Bickslow had supposedly made it obvious that he wanted nothing to do with Lucy anymore, yet whether _he_ was over _her_ , Levy had no idea. She knew Lucy wasn't over him, because they'd been walking across campus together one day when Bickslow had happened to be walking on the same path, and Lucy had instantly quieted down and started looking down as they continued to walk.

Levy hated that, too. Lucy deserved better, and, well… Levy had always been aware of how much of a jerk Bickslow had been to her over the last couple of months. She'd just thought he'd get over himself at some point and he'd stop making Lucy ultimately think he hated her – Levy knew and had told Lucy so many times that he didn't, because the man really wasn't capable of hating anyone else but that one person in the entire world he did, in fact, hate.

And hell, Levy had thought Lucy would've just told the guy that she liked him, too. But _nooo_ , she had refused to do that, time and time again; saying that there was no point since Bickslow hated her anyway.

And Levy had had enough. She couldn't take it anymore. If Lucy wouldn't tell the guy how she feels, then Levy would do it for her. And at the very least, even if Bickslow didn't like her anymore (which really was entirely possible, because Lucy had kind of been really stupid), he still owed her an apology of sorts, and he needed to let Lucy apologise, too.

So that was why she was storming into the library that night when she had much better things to be doing – like starting on a paper that was due in week four – just so she could go and yell at one of her moronic friends. She'd tried going to his dorm first, but she'd only found Gajeel, who informed her that Bickslow was actually in the library since the wi-fi in the dorms was horrendous and he apparently had an assignment to do.

She found him on the first floor, and when he looked up just as she slammed her hands down on the end of the table, he only grinned. "Oh, hey, Levmeis—"

"My name is _Levy_ ," she said firmly. She'd hated the name for years, she'd just put up with it.

Bickslow sunk down into his chair. "Sorry, _Levy_ ," he mumbled. "Um, what's up?"

"You're kind of an asshole."

"I… What?" He wouldn't deny it, because he was. But why Levy as calling him out on it, he had absolutely no idea, because he'd never actually heard her swear before. It was odd. And kind of scary.

She sat down opposite him just so she could be a little quieter – they were in a library, after all. "To Lucy," Levy said. "You're being an asshole to Lucy."

 _Oh… Right._ Yeah, he would admit he was. Sort of. Shrugging, he mumbled, "Yeah, well… It's not really intentional."

"Regardless, you could try fixing it."

Bickslow wasn't sure how he could supposedly do that, and if he even wanted to, because really, was there even any point? He decided to indulge Levy though. "How would I even do that?"

"You could stop avoiding her and ignoring her," she suggested.

"I'm not the one doing the avoiding anymore," Bickslow pointed out. It was more of a mutual avoidance those days.

"I don't care. Just stop doing it. She thinks you hate her."

"Well, I don't."

"I know you don't," Levy said. "But she thinks you do since you never let her apologise."

"She doesn't have anything to apologise for though."

Levy shrugged. "She does, and so do you."

"What do _I_ need to apologise for then?" Bickslow asked, an eyebrow arching as he closed his laptop.

"For ignoring her," Levy answered. "And for making her think you hate her, and feeling stupid for not knowing that you actually liked her, and for not giving her a chance to tell you that _she_ likes _you_."

"Wait, what?" He sat up straight then and just stared at the blue-haired woman opposite him. Bickslow could admit that those were all things he probably should apologise for, because he hadn't meant to make her feel like he hated her because it was so far from the truth. But the last thing… "She… She likes me?"

Levy rolled her eyes and had to resist the urge to grab the nearest book and hide her face in it. Those two… were morons. Levy wanted to hate herself for the fact that she was essentially being the messenger in their non-existent relationship, because it wasn't like they could talk to each other about their feelings or anything like that. Oh no. They were incapable of that. "Yes!" she cried, just a little too loud. "But you really hurt her, and you owe her an apology, even if _you_ don't care about her like that anymore."

It was only when Levy said he needed to apologise that his ridiculously stupid grin faltered. _She likes me!_ Under normal circumstances, he realised it probably would've been cause for celebration, since he did kind of succeed in the whole annoying her into liking him thing (which, he had to admit he'd had his doubts about). But it wasn't under normal circumstances, since… Yeah, he could see that he probably had hurt her, which he felt really, _really_ bad about.

He owed her an apology. That, he could see. Lucy didn't need to apologise though – that much he was still certain of. "I kind of fucked up, didn't I?"

"A little," Levy smiled.

Bickslow only sighed and let his head hit the table with his arms stretched out before him. He had some things to make up for, but he really wouldn't even be surprised if Lucy did hate him a little bit. He'd been a bit of an asshole, after all…

But damn it, why were girls so complicated? Bickslow couldn't help but wonder how much stupidity they could have saved themselves of if Lucy had just told him she liked him… And then again, it wasn't like it was _entirely_ Lucy's fault, either…

* * *

 _Sigh, these two... I over-use miscommunication. I'm not sorry. (Just a little sorry.)_

 _Anyway! So, I'm hoping you all know that this does in fact tie in with the GaLu one-shot from forever ago, **Sorority Parties Aren't All Bad**. Unfortunately, I kind of screwed up. This story ended up taking turns I never planned on, and so there are certain things in this that shouldn't be. I did consider rewriting that one-shot, but I'm not going to do that. I also did consider re-writing it in this story and making the changes I need, but... I'm not going to do that either. I will leave both stories as they are. _

_And, since the next chapter will in fact be the chapter with the party featured in that one-shot (since this is essentially a prequel and sequel all in one, compared to SPAAB), I will point out what is actually different here, and I'll probably still just take a few parts from the original one-shot and put them in the next chapter, for the sake of it..._

 _1\. Lucy doesn't know Gajeel in the one-shot. In this, she met Gajeel already.  
2\. Lucy doesn't know Bickslow's mother in the one-shot. The original plan was to have Lucy find out who she was at a later point, i.e AFTER the party has happened.  
3\. Bickslow was, in fact, enrolled in the class Lucy was taking in the one-shot, and not just showing up because his mum teaches it. But this, I'm thinking I can include in the next chapter...  
4\. Bickslow never gave up in the one-shot! So, when he was talking to Gajeel, that was him just being nervous, which obviously doesn't really happen in this story... And, yeah, Bix is a bit more of a jerk in the one-shot, too.  
_

 _There's probably more, but honestly, I can't remember it all. Long story short is that this isn't that closely connected to SPAAB anymore. Oh well._

 _Anyway. Hope you liked it!_

 _\- April_


	8. Chapter 8

Lucy couldn't help but yawn as she made her way to her last class of the day. If her last lecture wasn't with her favourite professor, she probably would just turn around and walk back home to take a shower and sleep. But, since it _was_ with her favourite professor, she wasn't going to skip it, as much as she wanted to right then. Pushing open the doors to the lecture hall, she only sighed and told herself she only had two more hours to go.

Two hours was fine.

Professor Alma was already there getting the lecture slides set up, and she smiled and nodded politely to Lucy as she walked in. "Evening, Lucy." Her second year classes were smaller than her first year ones – a lot of her students moved into different majors, which she was used to, so she took it upon herself to make sure to learn the names of the students in her second and third year classes that she taught.

Lucy only smiled back at her politely before she headed for her usual seat for that class in the seventh row, the last row of chairs in the small case study room. But then she stopped by the stairs when she noticed Bickslow sitting down the opposite end of that same row of chairs with his head down, staring at his phone in his lap.

He shouldn't be there; Lucy didn't _want_ him to be there. Hell, she didn't want to be there right then, either, just because _he_ was there. They were still avoiding each other, weren't they? That was what Lucy thought anyway. She liked to think she'd stopped caring about it all too, but she hadn't. It still hurt more than it should, and it hurt seeing Bickslow there right then.

 _He's probably just here to stalk someone else._ It was a bitter thought just to have her feet move again and carry her up the stairs to her usual seat – she wasn't going to let him get to her _too_ much. Not anymore, anyway. She had things to do, like pay attention in her class. She didn't have time to worry about people who obviously wanted nothing to do with her.

When Lucy silently sat down at the other end of the row, Bickslow only sighed and got up from where he sat and walked along the row to sit down right next to her. "You're really not going to make this easy for me, are you?" he mumbled. Granted, he knew he probably could have started with something else considering it was his version of apologising.

He hadn't run into her on campus since Levy had talked to him in the library a few days earlier, but since then, all Bickslow had been thinking about was apologising. Because, well… He really did owe her an apology for being a bit of an asshole to her. And he kind of needed to let Lucy apologise too, even though he really wasn't sure why she needed to, but according to Levy, he owed her that, too.

"Why are you here?" Lucy responded just as quietly. He shouldn't be there, let alone talking to her. Though, how she could possibly be making things difficult for him, she had no idea. He was the one that was making things difficult for _her_.

Bickslow shrugged. "Because I'm a bit of a stalker," he answered. _Well, sort of…_ He'd asked Natsu if she had any classes on Thursday afternoon since he had the entire day off that semester, and Natsu had said she had one with his mother at 4 p.m. So, there he was, being a bit of a stalker, because he really liked her and he was completely going about it the wrong way. Whatever. "Also…" He opened up the laptop he had on the desk in front of him, minimised the paper he'd been planning on working on during the class that was due by 9 a.m. the next morning, and opened up an image and turned the screen to Lucy. "I wanted to show you this."

It was an edit of the _actual_ Voldemort with a flower crown, with _'Voldemort's an asshole and he knows it'_ in big bold letters at the top of it. Lucy couldn't help but smile for just a second. She didn't know where it was coming from all of a sudden – Bickslow making the effort to talk to her – but she liked it. "Does he really?" she asked.

"He does. And The Dark Lord is also really sorry for being an asshole, too."

"Is that so?"

"It is," Bickslow said. Lucy still refused to look at him, which was fine, so he only watched her slowly spin the pen around on her notebook as he added, "And The Dark Lord knows he probably doesn't deserve it, but he really would like The Amazing Cosplayer to accept his horrible apology."

"The Amazing Cosplayer now?" she repeated.

"The _Super_ Amazing Cosplayer."

Now he was just trying too hard, but Lucy strangely liked that, too. She still didn't really know why Bickslow was wanting to apologise all of a sudden, but it was nice, even if she didn't really see the need for it. Sure, he hadn't exactly been the nicest to her over the last few months, but neither had she; Lucy needed to apologise just as much as he did, though.

"Well," she began, shrugging and only glancing in his direction. "The _Super_ Amazing Cosplayer will only accept The Dark Lord's apology if he accepts hers." That was really all Lucy wanted, because she just wanted to know that he could forgive her for being ridiculously stupid. Maybe then she'd forgive herself for it, because it still meant far too much to her than she wanted to admit to anyone other than Levy. But what mattered most to her was Bickslow accepting her horrible apology, because at least then, she'd know that he didn't hate her as much as she thought he had.

Well, maybe.

"She doesn't need to—"

"Oh, will you two nerds just shut the fuck up already?" the maroon-haired man sitting in front of them suddenly said, shooting a glare over his shoulder.

Bickslow frowned and fought the urge to kick the back of his chair. " _You_ shut up," he grumbled. _It's rude to eavesdrop, thank you very much._ And besides, wasn't his mother's class more important? The guy should've been paying attention to her, not their conversation. That was just so rude. Bickslow was almost offended.

Although where Bickslow was almost offended, Lucy was just a little embarrassed. And the guy in front of them – Erik, she knew his name was, because he was in one of her other classes and in the same group – had a bit of a point. He'd been rude about it, sure, but they probably should stop talking, since Olexa was just about ready to actually start the lecture anyway…

Lucy only shifted in her seat until she was comfortable again and opened to a clean page in her notebook. "You really should be quiet now though," she tried to say as indifferently as possible, though the smirk told a different story – she was enjoying just having Bickslow there right then. "Some of us are actually here to learn, so you can just… watch your cat videos again."

Except Bickslow didn't watch his cat videos. He wanted to, but he really needed to finish his paper. Though he doubted he'd get any work done while he was there, but that was okay.

* * *

Professor Alma finished her lecture for the day a little before six o'clock, as scheduled, and Bickslow closed his laptop with a sigh as his mother started talking to some of the other students who had already gotten up to no doubt ask her questions about the assignments. He had, unsurprisingly, done almost no work on the essay he'd had open in front of him for two hours. He'd mostly just stared at the blinking cursor. That was fine though, since he still had over twelve hours before it was due, and he was already a coffee addict, so he had plenty of time to get it finished.

But before he could go back to his dorm and do that, he had something _slightly_ more important to attend to. That was Lucy, of course, because Lucy – or more accurately, _properly_ apologising to Lucy, was more important.

Sort of.

Bickslow was just a little nervous as he waited for her to pack up her things, though. He wasn't quite sure why, because it wasn't like that much had changed, but it was a nice feeling, considering all things. He'd take being nervous around her any day of the week over ignoring her, just because when he was nervous, he wasn't missing her half as much as he had been before.

Lucy finished packing up her things as quickly as she could, and once done, she left the room with the rest of the class, and surprisingly to her, Bickslow followed her and didn't stop to speak to his mother for once. And then Bickslow was stepping up beside her and keeping up with her pace (not that it was hard for him to do so), and he softly said, "But I really do want to apologise to you for, um… For how I've been treating you the last few months, I guess."

Lucy shrugged. "It's fine. You don't really need to," she mumbled.

"Well, I want to." He did want to. And he needed to. Properly – you know, without referring to himself as _The Dark Lord._ "I never meant to make you think I hate you, because I really don't and I never did."

She stopped on the path and only side-eyed him. "You talked to Levy, didn't you?" That was the only explanation for him knowing that she thought he hated her.

"It was more like _she_ talked to _me_."

Lucy just wanted to strangle Levy right then. She'd told her not to get involved where she hadn't needed to, and what does she do? She goes and gets herself involved and tells Bickslow god knows what. If Levy had told him what Lucy _thought_ how Bickslow felt about her, then there was no telling what else her friend had told him. If Levy had maybe told him that she cared about him, then was his apology just out of pity? If that was the case, Lucy didn't want it.

She wanted Bickslow to be apologising because he really did mean it (even if she really wasn't thinking it was _that_ necessary he apologise), not because he was maybe feeling sorry for her because he was the unfortunate idiot she'd just happened to probably end up falling for – though really, she was the unfortunate one in that situation, not him.

Turning to face him, not caring about the fact they were standing in the middle of a pathway, she asked, "Why are you even here right now?" She'd asked it before, and Bickslow had given her an answer, though now, she wanted one that she could actually believe was _somewhat_ genuine.

"Because I owe you an apology—"

"Are you only doing this because of whatever it is Levy told you though?"

"Well, kind of—wait, hey, hold on!" Bickslow only had to take a couple of quick steps to catch back up to her once she turned and began to walk away from him. She'd asked, and he'd answered (sort of). Was it the wrong answer or something? Because it was the truth, in a way. He wouldn't be apologising at all if it hadn't been for what Levy had said to him.

 _But maybe the truth makes it the wrong answer…_

The last thing Bickslow wanted to be doing was fucking things up even more than he already had, so he didn't want or need to be worrying about saying the wrong thing to her. "Hey, come on," he pleaded. "What did I say? Tell me. Please."

"Doesn't matter," Lucy muttered.

"Yes it does."

"No, Bickslow. It doesn't." It doesn't matter if the only reason he's doing it is because of Levy. In a way, Lucy was kind of thankful for what Levy did and whatever it was she had said, because she knew that Levy was really just trying to help… But it really hadn't been necessary, and Lucy still wished she hadn't done it at all. Things probably would've ended up being easier if Levy just hadn't talked to Bickslow, because then, she probably wouldn't have started getting her hopes up a little bit. "Please, just leave it alone."

Except Bickslow really couldn't leave it alone. Not even if he'd tried. "Lucy, please just tell me what it is I said that was wrong. I'll leave you alone after if that's what you want. I promise. Just tell me—"

"But that's the point," Lucy said quickly as she spun back around to face him. Bickslow only glanced cautiously to the side to the people that walked by them on the path as he mentally recoiled. Lucy was yelling at him… in public. He probably deserved it, but it was slightly embarrassing, even when he didn't understand just why Lucy apparently had a need to yell at him. "I _never_ wanted you to leave me alone in the first place," she continued a little softer than before, clutching the strap of her bag between her hands tightly and refusing to look back up. "And then you did, and you never let _me_ apologise, and I got that you hated me but I just really wanted you to stop ignoring me for more than five minutes so I could tell you that, because I really miss you and I want to hate you for that but I hate myself for it even more."

Bickslow only stared at her. It wasn't like he didn't already know what Lucy had said – well, sort of – because he knew most of that from Levy already. But hearing it from Lucy, though… It was different actually hearing it from her and like that, and Bickslow just didn't even know what he was supposed to say right then. "Lucy, I—"

But Lucy wasn't letting him speak that time, either. She didn't have time to, because she'd already embarrassed herself enough in the space of five seconds that all she wanted to do was go back home. "Please don't," she almost whispered. "I don't want to hear it right now. Not if it's only because of what Levy told you."

It wasn't though – not completely, anyway. But Lucy wasn't giving him the chance to say that right then, and as annoying as that was to Bickslow right then, it was okay. He figured that how he felt then was at least close to how Lucy had when she'd tried apologising months earlier in the coffee shop and he hadn't let her do so. Right then, feeling frustrated was something he could deal with. And besides, with how she turned and left again almost immediately, only leaving him in the middle of the path before he turned and headed back for the dorms in the opposite direction, Bickslow knew that she didn't want to speak to him right then. That much was obvious.

He hoped it wasn't always going to be like that. If it was, fine, he'd find a way to get over it and her if she really did not want to have anything to do with him, but… Bickslow really hoped he wouldn't have to, though it wasn't like he was getting his hopes up this time, either.

She just needed a little bit of time, he decided. He'd give her a little bit of time and then he'd try explaining and apologising to her _again_. When he was going to do that, though, he had no idea. He would do it, though. He had to.

* * *

Liquid courage.

The _Harry Potter_ nerd within him – the one that had severely grown since he'd become _He Who Must Not Be Named_ – would of course think of _Felix Felicis_ , even though that was technically referred to as Liquid _Luck_ …

But the twenty-one-year-old he really was at heart only thought of alcohol, not unlike every other red-blooded teenager and 'adult' that he was surrounded by that evening. Honestly, the novelty of getting as completely trashed as possible was wearing off – he had absolutely no idea what he'd been thinking when he'd been younger and he'd still been in high school and had abused the fact his mother stayed in Hargeon a lot of the time.

Regardless of that though, that night, at the disgustingly pink and white sorority house he'd spent far too much time in for many reasons (mostly parties, because they threw the best parties), he just really needed some liquid courage. Though, if Felix Felicis had been offered to him, he would've taken that, too, since Bickslow was pretty sure Lucy wouldn't even _consider_ listening to him if he was actually drunk. He wouldn't even consider listening to himself if he was, to be perfectly honest, having heard Gajeel tell him the morning after all about the crazy shit he'd done and said on multiple occasions – but it wasn't like he could talk to her sober.

Oh no. He was too nervous for that.

He wasn't completely sure why, though. There was no guarantee she'd want to listen to him even if he _was_ sober (which, he wasn't), considering the last time they'd actually talked was when she'd walked away from him. Though, it had been a week since then, and he'd seen her a few times in that week just on campus, and he'd managed to get her to smile at him the day before when he'd been running, so that had to be a good sign.

He hoped so, anyway.

Still, Bickslow needed to talk to her. He'd given Lucy her time, and now it was time for her to hear his apology, and as much as he still didn't understand why Lucy apparently felt the need to apologise to him, he wanted to hear hers, too. Well, if she still wanted to give him one, anyway. He was optimistic about the outcome of it all, though.

Except…

Bickslow was of course too nervous to actually go and talk to her own, too. He wasn't sober – nor was he drunk – but his liquid courage just wasn't giving him _enough_ courage. So he'd left the party temporarily, gone back to his dorm room, and dragged Gajeel back to the party with him. Honestly, the guy was boring sometimes. Who even sits in their dorm room on a Friday night, re-doing an essay that he'd already finished two weeks earlier, just because he had nothing else to do? _Oh. Right. Gajeel does that._

Besides, Bickslow liked to think he was doing his best friend a favour by dragging him out of their dorm room. Levy was at the party too, of course, and no matter how much Gajeel denied it, he was most definitely into the woman. And she was into him, for whatever reason (Bickslow hadn't quite figured that out). So really, it was a win for everyone. Bickslow got his wingman, Gajeel got to talk to Levy again, Levy got to talk to Gajeel, and Lucy got to talk to Bickslow. That was kind of a win, right?

So after getting bored of watching Natsu make a fool of himself as usual, Bickslow set his empty cup down on a table that was already littered with empty cups and bottles, and slipped past everyone else on the stairs to head up to the second floor. He'd seen Lucy up there right before he'd left to go and get Gajeel, and it was really about time he just got on with it all. It wasn't really like he had anything to lose.

She was still upstairs, thankfully, and he rounded the upstairs hallway to find both Lucy and Levy sitting on a lounge in another room. He was still slightly nervous as he went up to her, but that was fine. That was what Gajeel was for. "Hey, Cosplayer," Bickslow grinned, stopping just in front of her.

Lucy looked up at the voice and smiled softly, setting her drink down in front of her. "Hello, Bickslow." She turned her attention to Gajeel who came up beside Bickslow who only nodded to her. Just why Levy liked him, she had absolutely no idea. Not that she could talk about horrible romantic interests either, but whatever. "Evening, Gajeel."

Levy made a sound resembling a squeak when she heard the last part, and as much as she wanted to completely hide her face (and blush) within the book she'd been reading for one of her classes, she looked up quickly and smiled timidly as she mumbled, "O-Oh… Hi, Gajeel…"

"Hey, Shrimp."

 _Well, at least **she** gets something verbal._ Lucy couldn't help but snicker quietly to herself, which only led to her getting a discreet elbow in her side.

"So!" Bickslow quickly sat down on the end of the sofa next to Lucy, and so close that he'd almost ended up sitting on top of her, but she only rolled her eyes. She was in a good mood that night, and she'd mostly gotten over what had happened the last time they'd talked, so really, everything was fine again. "How're your assignments going, ladies?" Bickslow asked, half trying to steer things away the awkward territory that Levy and Gajeel were mostly in, and half trying to just make small talk for a little bit before he _actually_ talked to Lucy.

Small talk was good, right? He wasn't sure.

"Fine," Lucy answered. "Didn't you say you had your last one for one class due today?" She remembered him mentioning something about being swamped by assignments in the lecture of hers he'd shown up to the week before.

"I did."

Levy closed her book and leant forward around Lucy. "You didn't do it, did you?" she asked suspiciously.

Bickslow grinned. "Nope. Well, I did, but I submitted it late so I lose like five percent, but whatever."

Lucy only sighed and fought not to roll her eyes that time. It wasn't really her place to judge, and it wasn't like submitting an assignment late was the end of the world anyway. But then as Gajeel and Levy started talking about the book she'd been reading, she felt Bickslow shift beside her, and then his arm was going around her shoulders – _that wasn't very smooth, Dark Lord_ – and she was considering going and finding Evergreen, one of her other sorority sisters, just to borrow her fan to fan her face.

"Can we talk, Cosplayer?" Bickslow asked softly by her ear. He'd had enough of the horrible small talk already. "Like, somewhere else?"

She nodded and stood with him. She had a feeling she knew just what Bickslow supposedly wanted to talk about, and that was okay. It was a conversation she strangely wanted to have, and besides, Lucy had to admit she was pretty curious about whatever it was that Bickslow wanted to say. She knew there'd been more to his supposed apology the last time they'd actually talked, but she hadn't wanted to hear it then. Now she did.

"Although," she began, looking up to him with a smirk as they left Gajeel and Levy behind (Lucy knew she'd pay for that later, no doubt, but she figured it would end up being a win for her best friend anyway). "I really don't know how many times I'm going to have to tell you I'm not a cosplayer."

"You're the cosplayer that doesn't cosplay," Bickslow responded.

"That just… doesn't even make any sense."

"No?"

"No." She already knew her nickname wouldn't be disappearing any time soon, but whatever. She still had to try, right?

But unfortunately by the time they did reach the bottom of the stairs to go somewhere else to talk – which she was honestly glad for, because she really wasn't a fan of parties that got that out of control almost every time they happened – Lucy was temporarily forgetting about Bickslow and leaving, just because she was more preoccupied with going and confiscating the lighter from Natsu before he somehow managed to set fire to himself, someone else, or the actual house.

* * *

Somehow, from the sorority house, they ended up in a diner a ten-minute walk away from campus. Lucy had really just followed Bickslow once they'd actually left (and she hadn't been worried about Natsu setting fire to someone or something), and as silent as the walk had been, she'd found it hard not to laugh a few times. She wasn't completely sure why, either, but that didn't matter anyway, even if she was trying hard not to laugh right then, too, as she sat opposite Bickslow in the overcrowded diner and listened to him ramble about the time he'd cosplayed as one character from an anime he used to love (he claimed the character is basically his doppelgänger, but Lucy didn't believe him).

As interesting as his stories were, though, and as strangely adorable he was when he was both nervous (that much was obvious to Lucy, which made her feel better about herself) _and_ just a little tipsy, and, as much as she loved the giant ice-cream sundaes that he had so graciously ordered, they weren't there right then to make Lucy even more aware of the fact that he was a giant nerd and a dork. She was pretty sure she was going to have to start calling him The _Dork_ Lord instead.

"Bickslow."

He tried to sink down into the vinyl booth when she moved her sprinkle covered strawberry sundae to the side, and leant forward with her elbows on the table. He knew what her tone – and smirk – meant, and he didn't like it. Sure, he was the one that had wanted to talk in the first place, but turns out, he really didn't want to very much since that meant talking about his feelings and that just made him cringe.

Talking about feelings was just such a turn-off, and that was horrible, considering with how nice things were right then. And he was _painfully_ optimistic about the fact that he hadn't completely ruined every chance he had of ever getting with her, too.

"We're not here to talk about you being a giant nerd or to eat ice-cream," Lucy said softly, only smiling as she watching him continue to sip from the spearmint milkshake and remain awfully shy.

"Well, I never did say what I wanted to talk about when I asked if we could talk," Bickslow mumbled.

"You didn't need to. Come on, just talk to me about whatever it is you brought me here for."

Bickslow sighed and moved the milkshake aside. He really couldn't just _not_ say it now, because really, as much as he didn't want to be saying it right then – because gross, _feelings_ – he'd only been waiting to say it all since Levy had even come to talk to him in the first place. That had been long enough for him. "Okay, fine," he sighed. "But can you like, not leave before I finish saying what I have to say this time? Please?"

She shrugged and reached for her sundae again. "I'm listening. I promise."

"Okay, well, uh…" He tried to distract himself a little by reaching for one of the sugar packets on the table and tearing tiny little pieces from the ends without spilling any of it. "When you asked me before if I was apologising just because of what Levy said, and I said that I was, I did mean it. I mean, I figured out that was why you didn't want to listen to me anyway, and I guess you probably don't want to hear it now either, but still…"

"It's okay."

"Well, um… I, uh… I know I was being an asshole, too," he continued. "It wasn't really intentional, but I guess ignoring you was my way of coping? Ah, fuck me, and now I'm making a much bigger deal out of things than necessary." Bickslow dropped his forehead to his palm (rather than the table) and groaned into his hand, before quickly lifting his head up again and adding, "My mother calls me a drama queen, by the way, since I can obviously be just a little dramatic about certain things when I shouldn't be."

Lucy couldn't help but giggle. She seemed to have a new reason to like her favourite professor. "I _never_ would have pegged The Dork Lord as being a drama queen."

"Did you just call me The _Dork_ Lord? Wait, never mind. I'm not even mad. I kinda like it."

"You should."

"But anyway." It was back to the tearing up another packet of sugar and trying _not_ to add to the small pile in front of him. "I just… wanted to stop liking you, since you made it so obvious that you weren't even remotely into me. And just trying to ignore you seemed to be a good idea at the time, because I didn't really know how to _just_ be your friend anymore. And I mean, I was okay with just being that before because I still really liked you and I was kind of optimistic that I'd eventually get _one_ date out of you…"

"Really?" Lucy asked as she took another scoop of her sundae. That was kind of cute, if she had to be honest.

He nodded and gave a small smile. "I'm an optimist through-and-through. It can be a bit of a curse at times."

"I don't think it is." Because most optimists she'd ever come across were persistent, and if it was one thing she knew about Bickslow, it was that he was incredibly persistent – but in a good way. And if he was an optimist and could be persistent, then she liked to think those two traits would help him become a better doctor somewhere down the track. "I think it's a nice thing to be."

"Well, uh… Thanks, I guess," he mumbled. "But, um, then Levy came and told me that you thought I hated you, and really, that's not even close to being true. I just never actually expected for you to get hurt over it, since you always just assumed I was joking and fucking with you because that's what I do most of the time, and I guess I don't blame you for thinking that either…" Lucy was sliding into the booth beside him as he finished and he only looked back down to the table and the growing sugar pile as he quietly continued, "So I'm just really sorry for being an asshole to you, and for making you think that I hate you, and for just hurting you, because I know now that I did, and… And I'm sorry that I didn't even realise that on my own."

Lucy smiled despite herself. Sure, it would've been nice if Bickslow had decided to apologise without Levy having to basically tell him to do so, and it would have been even nicer if he hadn't been a drama queen and an asshole at all, but this… This she could deal with, because she had to remind herself right then that it wasn't entirely Bickslow's fault they were like that right then. She was partly to blame for it too, and she did know that.

"So is it my turn now?"

Bickslow sighed as he swiped the sugar pile into his hand to drop it into his empty sundae bowl. He would ask just what Lucy meant, but he remembered she _apparently_ had something to apologise for too. "I really don't see what you could possibly say sorry for," he mumbled.

"For being blonde," she answered just a little embarrassedly. "And for assuming you were joking. I just… I thought you couldn't be serious since you're you and guys like you aren't supposed to actually like girls like me…"

"That's…"

"Stupid?" Lucy finished for him. "I know it is."

He couldn't help but cringe. "Just a little."

"But I am sorry. I said some horrible and _incredibly_ stupid things to you, and I kind of wish I could take them back. Especially when I said you didn't count, because you do. And… And you're really the only one who _does_ count." Or at the very least, Bickslow was the only one she _wanted_ to count, because he was the only one that actually cared about _her_ and not just her looks or something else – or so she hoped, anyway.

Bickslow was back to feeling nervous as he looked to her. "So does that mean you…" He remembered Levy saying that Lucy had liked him, but really, he hadn't entirely believed it, even when she'd kind out blurted it out the last time they'd talked. He wouldn't have blamed her if she'd changed her mind, though, but Bickslow had still been slightly optimistic, considering the circumstances, and maybe that optimism was paying off…

Oh, did he hope.

Lucy only rolled her eyes though. "It means I want to be your girlfriend, you asshole." She didn't know how to be any more direct than that, other than using his adorable shock and excitement to her advantage and kissing him.

She'd never really been one for doing things like that, but that time, she was just not caring. Not really, anyway. Her face was probably as red as the booth seat they were sitting on, but whatever. The fact they were in the middle of a crowded diner in the middle of the night, too, was just whatever. She'd wanted to be bold then, because really, she'd had enough of everything else.

But of course, the little bubble they'd quickly found themselves within had been promptly popped when they heard their respective best friends who were just on the other side of the window next to them yell, _"Fucking **finally**!"_

* * *

 _Okay. So that's Chapter 8. There's two more chapters left of this, plus an epilogue kind of thing. So... Three in total._

 _Anyway. I did end up using a tiny little bit of the original conversation from SPAAB, and a few other plot points from that, I guess. Some I had to change a little, like the actual conversation, but really, I doubt any of you will really notice. It's not that relevant anyway, since I'm just going to go with GemNika's suggestion of just having it be like a semi-AU within the SPAAB universe, kind of thing (even though this is technically the original universe since this is the prequel too? Now I'm confusing myself. Whatever)._

 _And, yeah, kinda awkward. It happened. Don't ask. I wasn't sure how to do this, and this was just how it turned out._

 _Also, I will say that the next two chapters will contain more than a few jumps, since they cover the next two years, roughly. So basically, it covers their entire university education... Or most of it, anyway. I always said this wouldn't be very long (admittedly, it's shorter than I expected, lol), and I have said before there's not really much to this, plot wise and emotion wise or any of that stuff, so yeah... This was really just a bit of fun, but I am enjoying writing it._

 _Now all of that is out of the way, I hope you liked this chapter!_

 _I want to say I'll try and focus on this to get the other two chapters (and epilogue) done, but I probably won't. I have the Raijinshuu Week stories to do (20th May - 25th May), and then I have these other random things that need to be written (dear god, HWHL readers... you don't even know), and then my main stories need to be updated too... So yeah, I'll get this finished as quickly as I can, but I'll probably update something else before this is updated again._

 _Until next time._

 _\- April_


	9. Chapter 9

_This chapter is just... I don't even know where to begin. Just know that it involves awkwardness (probably the most awkward conversation I've ever written), and then some angsty fluff. Or is it fluffy angst? Who even knows. I felt like it was necessary. Still, only one more chapter after this, plus the epilogue (you'll know what it's about by the time chapter 10 is up, hehe), so yay! We're almost done!_

* * *

Much to Bickslow's surprise, there was a blonde waiting on a bench outside his last class for the day and with her nose in a book. It worked out great for Bickslow that Lucy was there and waiting for him for some reason, since he'd been planning on finding her to talk to her that afternoon anyway.

They hadn't really talked for a few days – not in person, anyway. It wasn't that out of the ordinary for them, though, since their timetables were almost opposites of each other. When Bickslow had a couple of hours off between classes or a complete day off, Lucy was either on her way to one of her own classes or had the busiest day of her entire week – and vice versa. Neither really liked it much, but they were in college, and even if they really, _really_ liked each other, their education was just a little more important than their relationship.

Most of the time.

Most of their conversations those days were either just from when they occasionally passed each other or ran into each other on campus, usually in the library (which proved to be fun sometimes, until they got in trouble by a librarian for using the library's services incorrectly) or in any number of the university's coffee shops, although those were really only quick chats. The rest of the time, they just texted each other throughout the day, but that was really just Bickslow sending Lucy links to cat videos.

But Wednesday afternoon was the one time of the week where they both had no classes for the most part. Well, apart from the weekend, anyway. Lucy finished at 1 p.m., Bickslow finished at 1:30, and they had the entire afternoon off to do whatever it is they wanted to do. Most of the time it was studying in the library on the fourth floor, though, and that particular Wednesday, it wasn't really going to be any different, unfortunately. Bickslow had something else planned for that night with Lucy, too, but for the most part, it would just be their usual plan of being studious students together.

That was cute, wasn't it? Bickslow thought so. Gajeel disagreed.

Bickslow came up behind Lucy where she was sitting on the bench. She didn't know Bickslow's class had finished, she'd been too busy annotating the poetry book in her hands for an assignment due at the end of the semester. It was only when she felt someone's arms quickly wrap around her shoulders that she became aware of the world and chatter around her, though she was calming down just as quickly as she'd begun to panic when there was a kiss to her cheek from the idiot leaning their chin on her shoulder.

"Happy Halloween, Cosplayer," Bickslow chuckled lightly, pulling back quickly to avoid the hand that had no doubt been lifted just to shove his face away anyway. Sure, it would have been a disaster if the blonde had turned out to be someone other than his girlfriend, but he knew it hadn't been. He'd been ninety-nine percent sure of that fact.

"Damn it, Bickslow. Don't do that. You scared me half to death," Lucy said. Bickslow sat down beside her on the bench and she gave him the gentle shove to his shoulder he deserved. He was lucky she was trusting and knew his voice. "And happy birthday, too. I sent you a message this morning but you never replied…" And usually Bickslow was really good at responding, since most of the time it was him sending all of the messages anyway, but Lucy hadn't been able to help but be a little worried when she hadn't received a single message from him all day. Not because she'd been worried something had happened to him, though. Rather because she'd been paranoid about how things were with _them_.

She'd dated guys before, but with Bickslow, it was new territory. Things were different. Sort of.

Although, Lucy did have to admit she was quite as worried right then as she had been earlier in the day. She liked to think Bickslow would be a little more distant if things weren't as good as she hoped. Even when they'd only been dating for a couple of months, she cared about him immensely – more than he knew she did, at least – and considering he was one of the only people left in her life that she cared about so much, she didn't really want to lose him just yet. It was just a little selfish of her, she knew that, but she didn't care.

"Ah, yeah, sorry. I forgot to charge my phone last night and it was dead by the time I got up," Bickslow answered. "Gajeel woke me up this morning, thankfully." Well, he threw one of his smaller textbooks at him, but it woke him up nonetheless, and Bickslow had been thankful since he'd had an in-class test in his first lab of the day. He couldn't have missed that.

"Oh. Okay." So she had nothing to worry about… she hoped.

"So, lunch and then the library?" Bickslow asked as they stood from the bench.

Lucy shook her head. That was their usual Wednesday afternoon, but that day, she couldn't do it. "Not today, sorry," she sighed. "I only really came today to tell you that we can't do it today. I'm supposed to be helping set up the stupid decorations for the party the sorority is throwing tonight."

"Oh. Well, uh, that reminds me, anyway…"

"Hm?"

"I was wanting to see if you wanted to do something else tonight," Bickslow shrugged. "You know, like, with me, instead of going to one of the parties." It was probably the first time he'd ever wanted to skip a Halloween party, but that year, he'd really rather just enjoy a quieter night in for a change with his two favourite people and _Game of Thrones_.

Plus, it was a super great opportunity for his mum and girlfriend to start getting along. He was sure they already did since Lucy had been taking her classes for well over a year now and Olexa was Lucy's favourite professor, but Bickslow hadn't actually told his mother that one of her best students (according to her, anyway) was actually his girlfriend now. He just hadn't really been able to find a good time over the last two months to bring up the fact that his stalkerish tendencies had paid off.

"I mean, only if you want to," Bickslow added. "I just thought that maybe it would be nice, since it's my _birthday_ , and you're my _girlfriend_ …" He cleared his throat as Lucy only raised her eyebrows at him. "But if you want to go get drunk with a bunch of morons, sure. That's cool."

Lucy felt strangely flattered that Bickslow would rather spend his birthday with her rather than with his other friends. She couldn't deny that she would rather spend her night with Bickslow too, especially over getting drunk with a bunch of morons, as Bickslow had put it. That just wasn't her kind of thing, and Bickslow knew that. "I've still got to go and help set up for tonight, but sure. That does sound nice, I suppose," she smiled. "Anything specific you had planned then? We could go out for dinner somewhere if you like. That could be your birthday present since you refuse to let me get you anything." Really, though, was it too much for her to want to get her boyfriend something for his birthday? Apparently.

"I was planning on just getting food delivered, actually, but um, we could go out. If you wanted to, I mean," he mumbled.

Lucy shrugged. "It's your birthday. I'm fine either way, really. Delivered sounds good, too."

"Good, good. And, uh… I was really just planning on watching movies, too, by the way. Nothing fancy."

"That sounds great."

He glanced to the side and down to her as they walked and he wondered for a second if her enthusiasm right then was just because she felt like she had to like what he wanted to do that night. Bickslow knew it wasn't going to be all that spectacular – really, a _Game of Thrones_ marathon because he was trying to turn his girlfriend into a fan of the series so she'd quit judging it too harshly, and take-out food, probably didn't even come close to being as exciting as a Halloween party. But the boring night in on his favourite day of the whole year was what he wanted. He just thought it would be nice to have Lucy there too. "You know," he began slowly. "You really don't have to come over if you don't want to. Or we really could go out for dinner somewhere and do something slightly less boring if—"

"No, no, it's okay," Lucy smiled again. "Boring is fine. But I still won't be done for a few hours at least anyway, so is that going to be a problem at all?"

Bickslow sighed and shook his head. If she said she was fine with boring, he'd stop being paranoid about it. "That's fine. You can come over around five thirty or something, if you're done then. Do you remember how to get there?"

She made a face. "To the dorms? Of course I do."

"Oh. No. I meant my mum's house. Sorry, forgot to mention that part."

"Your mum's house?"

He shrugged. "Quieter there. And Mum won't even be back until later anyway so the place will be empty."

"…Oh." Surely Bickslow couldn't mean _that_. She had to be overthinking things now; maybe all Bickslow wanted to do in the quiet house where they'd be completely alone, was really just watch movies, and not… other things.

Maybe.

Lucy wasn't sure how she felt about that, though, if Bickslow was actually hinting at how he'd really like to spend his birthday.

Regardless of that, she wasn't exactly going to back out of spending the evening with him now. She couldn't do that, because that would just make things awkward and she couldn't deal with awkward. Nodding, she smiled up at him and pulled her hand back from his – they'd reached the library, anyway, and she figured Bickslow was still going to do a little bit of study that afternoon anyway. "I think I remember where it is. I'll try to be there for five thirty, but charge your phone so I can call if you if I get lost, okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Bickslow chuckled, before quickly ducking down to press his lips to hers before they went their separate ways for the afternoon. "So I'll see you later then?"

"Yup. Don't have too much fun studying."

He only flashed a quick smirk over his shoulder. "Oh, you know I will."

* * *

Levy had miraculously managed to avoid help set up the tacky and distasteful Halloween decorations for the sorority's annual party that night by going to some kind of workshop for one of her classes. Honestly, Lucy had been jealous of her for a minute, just because for one, setting up strings of bats and wrapping orange and purple ribbon around the stair bannister was boring as all hell, and two, she had really needed her best friend's logical brain. Because, as Lucy knew it, she wasn't thinking straight at all.

She'd only spent the entire afternoon worrying about what she would do if it turned out Bickslow really did have some other plans for their night.

Just to make things worse, she was really just confused about it all, too. Lucy was still just a little surprised that Bickslow hadn't even tried getting her to sleep with him after their first date (well, their _actual_ one, anyway), but she knew it was probably from just how many horrible dates she'd gone on before Bickslow that she just hadn't really expected much at all. But she knew Bickslow was different, too, and with Bickslow, she was more than glad to be surprised.

But then again, now that Lucy had spent the entire afternoon thinking about it, she couldn't help but feel a _little_ offended that her boyfriend hadn't tried to get her into bed _once_ over the last two months. Sure, she was mostly glad for it, because she really didn't want to be doing that – not yet, anyway – but did Bickslow's lack of trying to go further mean he didn't want to _at all_?

Assuming he did, though, which Lucy _was_ going to assume because, you know, they were dating and she really liked to think that her boyfriend wasn't completely repulsed by the idea of having sex with her, just because of who her boyfriend actually was, what would happen when he found out that _she_ didn't want to sleep with him yet? And really, the operative word was _yet_. She wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. She just wanted to wait if possible.

It was just that it was _Bickslow_ , and she was _just_ _Lucy_ , and she had quite literally heard him fucking one of her closest friends, and there were all of those rumours (that were admittedly not rumours in most cases), and Lucy had no idea just what it was he saw in her that made him supposedly want to be with her.

But really, when Levy did get home, Lucy was on the verge of ripping her hair out. And she knew it was silly, but she really just needed her best friend to tell her she was overthinking things. So of course, the first thing Lucy did do once Levy had walked in through the door, was drag her friend up the decorated staircase and up to their room. The house was mostly done anyway, and it was getting closer to when she had been planning on getting ready too, so she would've had to stop helping out soon regardless.

"Lucy," Levy shrieked as she got pulled into their shared room. "What's going on? I _just_ got home!"

Lucy closed and locked the door. "I know, but I just… I really need your advice on something, and I've been wanting to talk to you all afternoon about it, but you had that workshop and I just…"

"You need to calm down a little," Levy supplied.

"Well, yeah, but… after," Lucy replied. She waited until Levy had sat down at her desk and started unlacing her boots before she began again. "Okay, so, um… You know how it's Bickslow's birthday today, right?"

"Yes…"

"And, uh, you know how we've been dating for like, a couple of months now?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, you know that I really, _really_ —"

"Lu, just get to the point already," Levy groaned.

Lucy quickly sat down on the end of her bed. Her knuckles almost went white as she gripped the hem of the skirt before running her hands over her knees nervously. "So Bickslow invited me over tonight, right?" she sad. "You know, said he was just going to get take-out delivered and watch movies, and that's perfect and all because, I mean, it's not like I'd rather be here tonight anyway."

Levy was just a little surprised Bickslow was opting to do that instead of doing all kinds of stupid things he wouldn't even remember in the morning, but she knew that that that wasn't the actual problem right then. "Okay…"

"But, he's planning on spending the night at his mother's house, I guess… And she won't be there until later, so it will just be us…"

Levy sighed. "Lucy, I don't get what you're trying to say. What's the problem? Are you worried about Professor Alma or something?" she asked.

"No, not really. Well, I don't think so, anyway." Though, now that Levy had brought it up, Lucy was just a little worried about Bickslow's mother. She knew that Olexa didn't actually know she was dating her son yet, and now Lucy was most definitely worried about what she'd think… _Oh god, will it affect my grades?!_ Mentally shaking her head just to dislodge that strange thought – _of course it won't affect my_ _grades_ – she mumbled, "I'm just… I'm worried he wants to… _you know_."

Levy's eyebrows slowly rose as she watched her friend grow almost impossibly more embarrassed by the millisecond. It was just a little funny, too, but Levy wasn't exactly going to burst out into a fit of giggles right then. Oh no. The situation was far too… _delicate_ , for that. "Is that a bad thing?" Levy asked cautiously.

"N-No! I mean, yes. Wait, I mean no. Oh god. I don't know." Levy sat down on the bed next to Lucy as she groaned into her hands, and she couldn't help but smile when Lucy mumbled, "I'm just overthinking things, right? I mean, he probably really does just want to watch movies…"

"Well, probably. He is the type to say exactly what he wants, too. But then again…"

Lucy's head snapped up. "Oh god. I'm really not overthinking this, am I? Levy! What am I going to do?!"

"First of all, you're going to calm down again," Levy said. Really, she didn't know why Lucy was so worried about it at all. "And second, you're only going to do whatever you want to do."

"But…"

Levy shook her head at Lucy. "Nope, no buts. I know how much you care about him, Lu, and I know he cares just as much about _you_. He wouldn't have spent nearly a _year_ chasing after you otherwise. And, even if Bickslow _was_ planning on doing something other than just watch his weird as hell movies, you know he wouldn't make you do something you don't want to do. You should know that better than anyone."

"I suppose," Lucy mumbled.

But that didn't really help Lucy decide what to do, either. So maybe she had been looking into it more than she should have been, or maybe she hadn't been. She just didn't know. She just figured it be something she'd have to decide on once she got there…

For now, though, one thing Lucy _did_ know, was that she needed to go and have a shower. Mostly because she probably needed one, having not had one since the night before anyway, but just in case, too.

* * *

Lucy was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as Bickslow sat back down on the lounge and placed the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of them, even when they had only just finished dinner like twenty minutes earlier.

It was nearly 7 p.m., but Bickslow's mother had yet to get home, so it was still just the two of them there. They had yet to really do anything other than talk, though Lucy had been quieter and less talkative than usual since she'd been too lost in her own head; kiss, just a little bit; and eat. Bickslow hadn't really said anything about just what it was he wanted to do that night, which really didn't put her mind to ease over what she should be expecting to happen.

She was still as confused as ever. She didn't know if she was missing some kind of cue from him (because really, she was as oblivious as ever when it came to that, and she was aware of that too), or if he was waiting for her to do something, or if he really did just want to watch his goddamn movies. Lucy hoped it was the latter, but on the other side of things…

On the other side of things, Lucy was feeling strangely guilty all of a sudden. She really knew she shouldn't, but she did, because she had all of these scenarios in her head about how things would turn out that night. One in particular was about what would happen if it turned out Bickslow really did have other plans for the evening, and she just… couldn't. Or, _wouldn't_ , perhaps. She'd been called _frigid_ a few times before because she wouldn't have sex with someone – even in _high school_. And it had hurt, naturally, because she just wasn't as thick-skinned as others were, or at least she _hadn't_ been. The last year alone had taught her some things, to say the least.

But she still worried about Bickslow and what he would think. She didn't really want Bickslow to judge her because of her choices, too. But it wasn't really like she was waiting for marriage or anything ridiculous like that, either. She'd just… been fine with waiting. It didn't help that literally every guy she had ever dated (somewhat serious or not) had been a grade A tool and she'd had absolutely no interest in ever sleeping with any of them.

But Bickslow… maybe.

Probably.

And really, it was _just_ sex. Lucy knew she really was probably just overthinking it. It wasn't a big deal at all, and Lucy knew she was making a bigger deal of it than necessary. Besides, she was twenty now, and it wasn't like she could stay a virgin forever. Well… She could, but she didn't want to.

She figured she should probably just get it over and done with, if anything… Because she had a boyfriend now, one that she cared about more than she would admit to anyone but _Levy_ of all people, and it really wasn't like she didn't want to ever have sex with anyone (ahem, Bickslow, really, because Bickslow wasn't a grade A tool most of the time, and she really did care about him). So maybe it was just best if she stopped worrying about whether or not a quiet night in on his birthday meant something else entirely from what he'd actually said, and just assumed Bickslow actually _had_ wanted something else.

Really, the worst that could happen was that she'd embarrass herself. But Lucy realised she'd be doing that anyway regardless, because _hello_ , virgin – and her boyfriend was most definitely not.

She turned to him beside her on the couch, just as he crossed his legs under him and dropped the remote back down onto the cushion. "Bickslow?"

"Hm?"

Lucy swallowed her nervousness and sat forward to quickly yet softly press her lips to Bickslow's, her hand light resting against his cheek as she felt him smile against her lips.

"What was that for?" he asked quietly. Though, it wasn't like he was complaining or anything… Oh no.

Lucy only shrugged, because really, she didn't exactly know what to say. Was she supposed to be like, flirting then, or something? She was terrible at flirting – Bickslow had already teased her about it so she'd just stopped trying altogether to be anything close to flirty. But she was just at a complete loss as for what to do next.

So she only kissed him again, and then somehow ended up sitting on his lap and with Bickslow's hands on her hips. Pulling back, Lucy willed herself to just cool and calm the hell down, but she knew mentally yelling at herself would do absolutely nothing for how uncomfortable she actually was. Levy's words were still stuck in her head, but she was really just trying to quieten and ignore them right then, just like how she was trying to ignore Bickslow strangely odd look he was giving her too.

"So, um… I don't really know how these things… work," Lucy mumbled. Where was the point of denying the fact that she absolutely had no idea what she was doing? She assumed Bickslow already knew she wasn't exactly the most experienced – hell, she had _zero_. She was probably saving herself _some_ of the embarrassment by just admitting her lack of experience, too.

He raised his eyebrows at that. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Was he missing something?

Oh, did she really have to spell it out, too? " _You know_." Lucy avoided looking at him as she shrugged, only keeping her hands over his shoulders and continuing to idly thread her fingers through his hair – she really did like his hair though. "Since it's your birthday, and… And we've been together for a little while, and Prof— _your mother_ isn't back yet, so…"

It was like a light bulb went off in his head. "Oh. Sex, right?"

She gave a small nod. "I just thought… _Maybe_ …"

"Uh, no," Bickslow mumbled. Lucy was the one that was making the face then, and Bickslow was feeling a little awkward. "Not happening. Not tonight, at least, and definitely not here." Dorms, sure, assuming Gajeel would be gone for a while. But at his mother's house? Hell no. He was too scared of getting caught. He would rather die than have that happen.

"Oh. But… Isn't that why you wanted me here?"

"Wait, is that why _you_ think you're here?"

Lucy shrugged. She'd thought that was why she was there… It seemed not, apparently.

"Oh. God, no." Bickslow could see how Lucy would think that, though. It was just a little farfetched the way he saw things, but sure, he could see it. He hadn't intended on making Lucy think that, though, because that wasn't what he wanted at all. Though, Bickslow was realising he probably could have picked his words better. "I just mean that's not why I invited you over."

"It's… It's not?"

Bickslow grimaced. "Nope... But, I mean, I'm not saying that I don't want to at all." He cleared his throat as he paused, wincing again. "I really just wanted to try and turn you into a _Game of Thrones_ nerd."

"Oh." So the guy was literally choosing Game of Thrones over sex. Regardless of how she felt about that – which was relieved, strangely – she felt so horribly embarrassed. As expected, really.

"And besides," Bickslow continued. "Even if my mother wasn't actually due home soon, I'm pretty sure you and her _both_ would kill me if I got you knocked up…" Nuh-uh. He didn't even want to risk that. Not even if Lucy was on some kind of birth control. And, since he had most definitely not been planning on them even having a _conversation_ about them having sex (or not having it, really), he had most definitely not come prepared. God no.

Plus, there was the whole part where Lucy had complained that one time about guys _only_ wanting to sleep with her, so Bickslow figured he should probably just try and do his best to make it as clear as possible that he wasn't there for that. He was there because he wanted to date her, _loved_ doing so, and really, he already knew he loved her so he didn't really care all that much about whether or not they actually slept together.

Not really, anyway.

But he wasn't going to tell her that. He couldn't tell her that. Because saying _'I love you'_ after two months was literally the worst idea ever.

Maybe.

"Right, of course…" Lucy laughed awkwardly. It was really just to hide the fact that she wanted to suffocate herself just to make the awkwardness be over. She'd embarrassed herself so much that she was sure leaving right then would be the best idea. At least she could drink to forget her idiocy if she left.

When she did finally manage to climb off his lap though and sit on the lounge again – although there was a larger gap between them now – Bickslow couldn't help but find it a little amusing. He probably shouldn't, since he knew that she was embarrassed and he should most definitely not find his girlfriend's embarrassment entertaining _or_ cute, but he just couldn't help himself for he could see just how _relieved_ she was.

That was really what made it so amusing. Lucy was probably trying to hide it, but really, he knew.

So he quickly paused the first episode of the show – the intro was nearly over, so he'd have to go back since it was the best part of the entire thing anyway – and then leaned over to wrap his arms around her and keep her trapped for a moment, before kissing her cheek. She tensed, because she was worried what was happening now, and only quickly glanced to him before she managed to stutter, "W-Wait, Bickslow… You said—"

"I know you didn't really want to, by the way," he said. "Know you're glad _I_ don't want to either, too."

"You… You do?"

"I'm not an idiot, you know. You're pretty easy to read most of the time."

Lucy shrugged as Bickslow sat back up again, and she pulled her knees to her chest. So Bickslow knew that, too. Awesome. She was pretty sure the guy knew absolutely everything, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. "Do you… mind?" she mumbled. Because she still felt weirdly guilty. "I mean, it's not that I don't want to at all, I just… I don't want to _yet_."

It was kind of funny that she thought he cared about the fact she didn't want to have sex with him. Adorable, too. "Not one bit." And the actual sigh of relief it got from Lucy then only made him chuckle. He figured it was probably about time to change the subject though… Just to make her a little more comfortable, really. "But anyway," he began then. "Since you were too busy thinking the worst of me—"

Lucy only quickly reached for one of the small cushions beside her to fling it at his face. Now he's teasing her? Well… It did make her feel a little better about herself, truthfully, since she really had just assumed he wanted to sleep with her rather than just nerd-out.

"—You missed the start of the episode," he finished. "So, gotta go back now, since one does not simply miss the start of the pilot episode."

"…Is that a _Lord of the Rings_ joke?"

"Oh! You've seen that?"

"I've seen the posts online."

Bickslow sighed. He had a lot of work to do. "I'll lend you the books. Read the books," he mumbled. "Oh, and… Since Mum will be back soon, if she goes to hug you, which she probably will… Just let it happen." Though really, he was only picturing it ending up something like the Voldemort and Draco hug from the last _Harry Potter_ movie: so, _so_ awkward.

* * *

As Lucy stared up at the ceiling, only listening to the sound of the rain outside the window right above the end of the bed, and her bed mate's quiet breathing beside her, she found herself wondering if she should just try and sneak away and out of the house, and return back to the painfully empty sorority house again. There were even less people staying on campus for winter break that time around, and even the house mother had only shown up once or twice since the semester had ended and everyone had packed to go home and spend the holidays with their families.

But it was the second year now where Lucy didn't get to do that. Levy had been on the verge of dragging Lucy back to Magnolia with her, but Lucy still hadn't wanted to impose on Levy. And even when Bickslow had come to her a few days after the anniversary of her father's death – where he'd shown up after one of his exams because he had known what day it was and he had really just wanted to be there for her again – and told her she was _more_ than welcome to spend a few days over Christmas with him instead of staying in the sorority house again, she hadn't really wanted to accept it.

She had eventually though, and reluctantly. Although in the end she had been glad she'd eventually come around, especially since the Almas' version of Christmas was exactly what she'd needed to distract herself again. But the day after, on the 26th, she just felt like she didn't belong there. Not even close.

Levy had her family, Gajeel had his family, Bickslow had his mother, and Lucy just… had no one. And she knew it was probably never going to be any different. She didn't really want people to assume she couldn't be alone, either; that she was too weak to actually be on her own or something. She knew that Levy and Bickslow had just been trying to be kind, though, and she was thankful for it – especially for Bickslow, because she adored Olexa and she was really far too comfortable with Bickslow and his mother…

It was just that she didn't want to get _too_ comfortable; she didn't want to start taking them for granted. If she left right then, before Bickslow woke up, she wouldn't be taking it all for granted. She would probably have to explain why she'd left so suddenly since she'd been there for the last three nights (it really wasn't as weird as she'd thought at first, surprisingly).

She would probably call him, or maybe just text him – tell him that she just wanted to be alone that day and not feel like a burden. But the last part, she'd keep to herself. Because she didn't want Bickslow to tell her otherwise and try and make her feel better about it.

Except before she could get up, having decided that leaving really probably was the best idea right then – something that would be difficult she realised, since she was between the wall and Bickslow anyway – she had an arm going around her middle and Bickslow curling around her at her side. That just made leaving _so_ much more difficult.

"Cosplayer."

"I didn't know you were awake…" Lucy whispered.

"I'm always awake." Plus, it was a little after seven, and he could rarely sleep past then anyway, he'd gotten so used to getting up for horrible 8:30 a.m. lectures. Even then, he'd been awake for a little while, too – since Lucy had woken up, really – and when he'd felt her shift beside him again, he'd known that she was probably wanting to leave. He'd been expecting that, truthfully.

He didn't want her to, though. Not unless it was what she _really_ wanted. But Bickslow knew why she'd want to do that, too. Lucy wasn't very good at hiding how she felt – whether or not she tried to with him, he wasn't sure, but that didn't really matter much to him either way. Regardless, though, he knew how she felt. He didn't understand it, but he knew. Because he knew what that day was to her, just like he'd known what one particular day a few weeks earlier had meant. And right then, he felt like there was something that she really needed to hear.

"I want you to know something though," he mumbled, sleep still in his voice as he nuzzled her cheek – sleepy cuddles were so nice, and he was planning on spending the rest of the day in bed, anyway. When Lucy remained silent, unsurprisingly, Bickslow softly said, "I just want you to know that you have me – for as long as you want me, anyway."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I know what you're thinking right now," Bickslow whispered. "I know that you think you're alone now"—he remembered that from the previous year—"but you're not. Because you have me. And even when you feel like you don't belong anywhere, at the very least, you're always going to be welcome here. With me. I just wanted you to know that."

And somewhere deep down he knew he probably shouldn't be saying that, since it had only been four months… But Bickslow knew how he felt about her, and Lucy knew how he felt, and he'd just wanted her to know that as long as things were like that, she wouldn't be alone. Because he'd be there.

It was times like that, though, that Lucy wondered just how Bickslow knew so much. She didn't give him enough credit, that was for sure. But right then, she was thankful for it, too. It wasn't what she'd expected to hear right then. Not even close. But, it had been what she'd needed to hear, she realised.

Lucy turned then, and she shuffled down until she had her head tucked under Bickslow's chin. "Bix?" she murmured, and he hummed in response to it. "I love you." And… she did. She had for a while, and she knew Bickslow loved her back – he'd basically blurted it out weeks earlier, but Lucy just hadn't been able to say it then. She'd been too scared to then, really.

But now… Now she could.

Maybe letting herself get too comfortable wasn't the worst idea.


	10. Chapter 10

"This feels like the end of an era, dude."

Gajeel rolled his eyes as he dropped another box by the door. "Barely," he mumbled.

"Oh, come on," Bickslow complained. "It's been like five years. You didn't even kill me, too. It's a goddamn miracle." That, he knew Gajeel would agree was a little bit of a miracle.

But it really did feel a bit like the end of an era. Five years they'd spent in that tiny little room together. Five years of countless late nights discussing the differences between _human_ biology and _animal_ biology, forming coffee addictions, movie marathons, binge watching the most ridiculous T.V. shows they could find on Netflix instead of studying, getting so horribly drunk on the last day of the semester and once they'd both finished their exams and then insisting they hadn't been consuming alcohol inside their dorm room when they got reported by their neighbours for being too loud…

All of that was done though. The semester was over, exams were done, and all they had to do was wait for the exam results to be posted and wait for the graduation ceremonies in a few months' time. Then they were done.

If Bickslow had to be perfectly honest, he was going to miss that shoebox of a room. It had become his home. Sort of. Hell, he was going to miss Gajeel, too. The guy was his best friend, and had been for so long that Bickslow didn't really know what he was going to do when they wouldn't even be in the same ZIP code. He was probably going to have to spam the guy's phone when he was in Crocus – well, assuming Bickslow even got into med school there, which he really hoped he did. He'd applied already and gone through everything over his senior year, and he had a short internship lined up somewhere in Hargeon (thankfully) for winter and spring… He was just waiting to find out whether his first choice school was interested in him or not.

It was making him permanently nervous.

But Gajeel was already moving out of the dorms, just like Bickslow was doing over the next few days himself, and it was a little depressing. They were growing up and kind of starting their lives. Bickslow didn't really like it.

He sighed as he sat down on his bed. "I can't believe you and Levmeister and moving in together though," Bickslow mumbled.

That was mostly why Gajeel was already moving out already and not waiting until it was closer to graduation, like most people who lived in the dorms and were graduating soon were doing. He'd already scored a job at an animal clinic in Hargeon, the one he'd spent some time at over his last two semesters, and Levy was apparently planning on spending another few years at university anyway, and somehow the two had decided it would be a good idea to get an apartment together in Hargeon since they'd be staying there anyway.

Though really, Bickslow had to admit it was a pretty decent idea. He just still found it kind of hard to believe that it was happening at all.

"Ah, you're just jealous," Gajeel smirked. "Wait, no. Envious. Shrimp taught me that one."

"Am not," Bickslow scoffed. _Okay, maybe just a little._ But not really, because it was literally impossible for him and Lucy to move in together. To begin with, Lucy still had another semester left and she was still in the sorority, and Bickslow had _less than_ zero intentions of getting his own place until he knew what he was doing and which goddamn city he'd be in, so he was only moving back in with his mother, anyway. Lucy could most definitely not move in when he was there. He didn't want her to, either.

Sleepovers were fine, sure, but moving in was so different.

But Bickslow not knowing what he'd be doing, when he'd he doing it, and where he'd be doing it was a problem in itself, and the worst part about it all was that it involved Lucy. He just really didn't want it to.

"Sure," Gajeel snickered. He knew better. "Heard back from any med schools yet?"

Bickslow sighed. "Nope. Doubt I'll hear anything until after Christmas though."

"Told 'Lexa you put off your application 'cause of Lucy?"

"Nope…"

"Told _Lucy_ you're stickin' around mostly for her?"

Bickslow threw a paper ball at the opposite wall. "Definitely not." He had no intentions of having either of them find out, though. Not yet, at least.

It wasn't that big of a deal, anyway. The school he wanted to go happened to have two starting dates, and the fact his girlfriend just happened to graduate right before he would _like_ to move to Crocus ( _hopefully_ ) for the second starting date was purely a coincidence.

Sort of.

It was just that if he'd started his entire application a little earlier, he might have already been accepted and the next few months wouldn't be so stressful, because he'd be moving right after his own graduation. Well, apart from moving across the country. That was stressful.

It still wasn't the worst thing to happen that he'd planned on taking the first six months of the year off regardless of what happened. If anything, it probably made things better for him, and the way he saw it, improved his chances of getting in at all because of his internship. Med schools liked those kind of things on applications. They made them look all sparkly and fancy, and his grades and recommendations were pretty enough, but he needed more sparkles (there can never be enough sparkles0. Besides, he'd just spent the last five years at university, rather than four, so a break seemed like a brilliant idea. The worst that could happen was that his half-year break would turn into a full year. That wasn't terrible.

But, sure, Lucy still having a semester left was part of why he'd put it off at all. He couldn't exactly tell his girlfriend that he was staying in Hargeon for a little while because the last thing he wanted to do was break up with her – he loved her too much for that.

And really, Bickslow was pretty sure his mother would kill him if she knew just why he was taking a break. He figured that she had at least guessed it, but still…

"Are you gonna tell either of them at all?" Gajeel asked.

Bickslow shrugged. "Don't plan on it."

Gajeel shook his head as he zipped up one bag before throwing it over his shoulder. He wasn't going to get involved with those two. Levy already had enough, so he'd learned over the last year, and Gajeel really didn't want to be in the same boat. "Whatever man," he sighed. "But come on, be useful and carry one of these boxes."

Bickslow groaned as he got up. Be useful? Pfft. It was his car Gajeel was borrowing. Wasn't that useful enough?

Apparently not.

* * *

Olexa knocked on the door first before she tried opening it. Ever since Bickslow had moved back in and Lucy had started spending even more of her spare time there (not that Olexa had ever really minded Lucy being there, though), she'd been cautious when it came to walking into her son's room. It was only after she'd unfortunately walked in on them one morning that Bickslow had started locking the door, but even then, Olexa still made it a habit of knocking first. She most definitely did not want to _disturb_ them ever again.

When a groan was heard from inside the room that morning, Olexa hesitated. A groan could mean many things. But then she heard what sounded like a _'we're wearing clothes'_ from Lucy (it had become a bit of a joke though, really), and she carefully turned the handle to peek into the room. The fact it wasn't locked at all put her at ease... Sort of.

Though when she saw Bickslow looking far too comfortable still, one arm draped down the side of the bed with his fingertips touching the ground, and Lucy on the other side of the bed, apparently having taken ownership of the blanket and the sheets, Olexa frowned a little. It was nearly eight o'clock; Bickslow had to get up and go to work – his internship had lasted all of two months before he'd quit, claiming his supervisor was _'the biggest douche the planet had ever seen that wasn't Laxus'_ – and Lucy no doubt had things she wanted to do that day, like study for the upcoming exams… They couldn't just stay in bed all morning.

"Bickslow, get up," Olexa sighed. "You've got to go to work soon."

He groaned into his pillow again. He didn't want to get up. Nuh-uh. He was too tired.

"And Lucy, don't forget I'm running that workshop today at five," she added. That was really only why she'd wanted to go in there that morning, because she'd wanted to remind Lucy of the class.

Plus, since they were both there so often, Olexa had really just gotten used to the two of them running around in the morning and getting ready together, and when they were both having a sleep-in for a change, she felt odd leaving without saying anything to them in the morning. Three people in the one small house made it just a little cramped and chaotic at times, but she really didn't mind it at all. Lucy had most definitely become a part of their little family over the last year and a half.

"Oh. Right," Lucy said as she sat up slightly. "Thanks for reminding me, Olexa."

"It's no problem at all." She stepped back then and only sighed at her unmoving son again before letting go of the door. "Make sure he gets up, will you?"

"Mm-hmm. I will," Lucy mumbled. She fell back down onto the pillow as Olexa went back down the hall, shaking her head no doubt. When Lucy heard the front door close, she rolled over to face her still half-asleep boyfriend, and moved one leg forward to push him out of the bed. Well, she tried, anyway. But he was taking up most of it anyway, not that she cared much since she mostly slept curled up anyway and it was his bed, too. "Get up," she groaned.

"In a minute."

"No, you gotta get up now, dork," she insisted. She couldn't kick him out of the bed, so she gave up on that front. But she could be annoying and just keep nudging him. "You gotta get ready for work."

Bickslow sighed into the pillow before he cracked an eye open to stare at the time on his phone. It was only 7:42. He didn't start until nearly nine, so he still had a little bit of time left before he needed to actually get up. So he only quickly rolled over and threw his arm over his girlfriend before he all but collapsed on top of her. Well, _half_ on top of her.

Lucy rolled her eyes and pushed his head away, just so it was on the pillow rather than her. "Oh, get off me, you idiot," she said, trying _not_ to giggle.

"No. Your boobs are too comfy."

"Yeah, well _I'm_ not comfortable."

He shifted a little – reluctantly, of course. Then, "Better?"

"Bearable," she answered. Though really, she would prefer it if he wasn't on her at all, but she couldn't have everything she wanted. Lucy just figured that was what she got for trying to annoy the man that could not be annoyed.

"Fantastic," Bickslow mumbled, and he sighed into the pillow again before asking, "You staying here tonight?"

"Can't. Roommate keeps whining about how I'm apparently avoiding her, so I have to stay there for the next few nights to make her calm down."

"But… You _are_ avoiding her," Bickslow pointed out.

Okay, fine – so Lucy was mostly staying with Bickslow and Olexa a lot those days because her new roommate, since Levy had already graduated and moved in with Gajeel, was whiney and annoying. She was a freshman, apparently, and she was entitled and a spoiled brat (according to Lucy, anyway), and Lucy really didn't like her. But she didn't really want her roommate finding out she was actually right all along. She had to at least make the girl _think_ she liked her.

"That's not the point," she grumbled. "Besides, I don't get to do this"—she turned to quickly press her lips to his—"if I don't stay here."

"Mm, I suppose that is pretty great…"

"I also don't get to ask you if you slept at all."

And there it was. Again. It wasn't the first time Lucy had asked him that over the last few weeks alone, which was basically when he'd stopped sleeping much anyway. Bickslow hated that Lucy had noticed, though. Because when she noticed, she worried, and when she worried…

"I know there's something bothering you, Bickslow," she whispered, taking his silence as his answer. "What's wrong? Come on. Tell me, please."

She pried.

But Bickslow couldn't tell her what was wrong. He couldn't tell her that ultimately, _she_ was what was bothering him and the reason he wasn't sleeping properly. He just couldn't tell her anything at all, because if he did that, he'd have to tell her he'd lied about just why he'd put off his application for medical school.

His mother had already found out – she'd assumed it all along, anyway – and had yelled at him for days about it. But Lucy had no idea. All she knew was that he'd wanted to wait a little while, take a bit of a break, and start at the end of the summer. It was bad enough that Lucy knew he'd already been accepted, having finally finished all of his extra application work and had his interviews, and was _supposed_ to be looking for a place to rent in Crocus and a part-time job that he could actually manage…

But as far as Lucy was concerned, he'd already accepted his offer to go to school in Crocus. And he had, of course, because he'd gotten into his first choice school with the best program with the best hospitals in the country. But what Lucy didn't know was that he could still change his mind.

But Bickslow couldn't tell Lucy any of that, because he couldn't tell her that she was what his entire world was revolving around, including his career.

Not yet, anyway. He still had too much thinking to do.

So he just shrugged as he pulled himself out of bed. "Just got a lot on my mind. Don't worry about it." He was aware that Lucy knew he was just avoiding it, as usual, but he couldn't do anything else. "Anyway." He only quickly leaned back to kiss her cheek before he said, "Gotta get ready for work."

Lucy only sighed as she made herself comfortable again, not having a reason to actually get out of bed yet herself. She had a feeling she knew what was bothering Bickslow, and the fact he wouldn't talk to her about it only made her more certain of what was to come. But, she didn't know what else to do, because she didn't want to make things worse by forcing Bickslow to talk to her. "Have a nice day," she called, but Bickslow had already left the room and pulled the door closed behind him.

* * *

"Come on, come and get something to eat," Olexa said softly, peeking into the room.

Bickslow shook his head and continued staring at his laptop screen on his lap. "Not hungry," he mumbled.

"Bix, you're never not hungry." She had hoped it would at least get half a smirk from him, but she hadn't even gotten an eye roll. Sighing, Olexa stepped into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. Gently patting his knee, she only said, "Alright, tell your mother what's wrong."

He kept staring at the screen. "Nothing's wrong."

"I raised you to be a terrible liar, remember."

"Congratulations."

"Hey, don't get snarky with me, Mr. Drama Queen," Olexa smirked, leaning forward to try and flick his ear. At least _that_ got a bit of a smile out of him. "But seriously. I know something's wrong, Bickslow. I'm your mother and it's my job to know these things, you know."

Bickslow shrugged.

Olexa sighed again. It didn't surprise her it wasn't going to be easy getting him to talk about what was bothering him, and had been for _months_ , really. Getting him to talk about anything at all over the last few _weeks_ had been near impossible, and she knew why. Sort of. At the very least, she knew it involved Lucy, because she knew that he was really only still in Hargeon _because_ of Lucy, and now that Bickslow's time there was quickly running out with Lucy being in the middle of her exams, it wasn't hard to figure out what was making her son so unlike himself.

She leant forward and peeked over the top of his computer screen – Crocus real estate listings. "Haven't you found a place yet?" she asked, hoping it would ease him into telling her what was wrong.

"No. Found a few places I like that are close to the school and the research lab, but… I don't know yet."

Bickslow knew he should have organised his apartment weeks ago, just to make things easier for himself, because the way he saw it, he really was going to Crocus either way – Lucy would kill him if he stayed because of her – but it was strangely difficult looking for somewhere to live when he would rather not be doing it on his own. He'd found a job there; one he could manage for at least the first couple of years before he went on clinicals, and one that would ultimately help him out in the long run.

But there was just two months left until he was supposed to leave, and not knowing what would happen with the most important person in his life, next to his mother of course, was making it extremely difficult to finalise everything.

"What about Lucy then?" Olexa asked with a sigh. "She's pretty much done now. Any idea what she's doing after?"

He shrugged. He did know what she wanted to do after she graduated, but that was it. "Don't know."

That was it though. Olexa had given up already. She couldn't keep asking questions and get nowhere. It was time to pull out the big guns.

…And by big guns, she meant taking his laptop and setting it down at the end of the bed, and sitting down next to him so she could give him a hug instead. Because he really needed a hug and a shoulder to quite literally lean his head on right then, and that was okay to Olexa. That was her job. "Now," she began, once her son's head was comfortable resting on her shoulder. "If you don't tell me what it is that's got you not wanting to eat your favourite food, I'm going to call Gajeel and get him to get it out of you." Was she condoning torture? Not at all.

Not unless it was Gajeel and Bickslow was the one that would be tortured.

"He already knows," Bickslow mumbled.

"Well, I want to know, too. So tell me. Please."

Bickslow shrugged. "I just… I don't want to choose," he admitted reluctantly.

"Between what?" she asked.

Another shrug. "Crocus. Lucy."

It didn't surprise Olexa to hear those two words. Not at all. It was worrying, but not surprising. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know, that's the problem."

On one hand, he really wanted to go to Crocus, because he really wanted to go to med school and become a doctor and a surgeon, and it was what he'd wanted to do for a really long time.

But on the other hand, he really didn't want to lose Lucy. More than once, Bickslow had considered choosing her over everything else, and he knew that if he ever got put on the spot and got told to choose between his career and his girlfriend, he would choose the latter. Every time.

Bickslow knew that was stupid though. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't choose her. He was smart enough to know that Lucy would never forgive him if he did that, and then his mother would be so disappointed in him, too…

Plus, it was just a stupid idea. Even he knew that.

Yet knowing that didn't make it any easier, because that only left moving to the opposite side of the country. And that was a really big thing.

"I mean, I… I really want to move to Crocus," he began, still leaning his head on his mother's shoulder. "But I don't want to lose Lucy, you know? Because I really, really love her…"

"I know you do," Olexa said softly.

"And if I move, then we have to break up, and… And I don't want to do that."

"Long distance?" she suggested.

Bickslow shook his head. "Won't work."

"Why not? You haven't even tried it."

"Don't need to try it to know it'd fail. Long distance rarely works out, and even if we did try it, it wouldn't work for long. I'll be at school and working, and she'll be working too, and we'd both be too busy to even _text_ each other." He'd already considered long distance, like he'd considered practically every other scenario, and it was just one of those times he wasn't optimistic about anything at all. He'd been optimistic about them working out only a few months in, and he'd put off doing his entire application because of it… But this, he couldn't be optimistic about.

It was like no matter how Bickslow looked at it, he'd still end up _without_ Lucy anyway.

But he still had absolutely no idea what to do. Because he still wanted to try and find some kind of solution where he didn't have to choose between them.

And Olexa wished she could give him the solution to his problem, too, but she couldn't, for she just didn't have it to give. If there was even one to be found, Bickslow had to find it himself anyway, because it would have to be something he was willing to do – or not do, maybe.

"Well, my little drama queen…"

"You do remember I'm twenty-four this year, right?" Bickslow smirked.

Olexa only squeezed him a little tighter and gently kissed the top of his forehead. "You're always going to be my little drama queen," she pointed out. "But, I know you'll come up with something, too. You'll think of something to do, because you always do, because you're smart."

"Debatable sometimes," he mumbled.

"Still… You'll do the right thing. I know that, Bix. You'll figure out what the right thing to do is. But for now, you need to eat, okay? So are you hungry?"

Bickslow shrugged. "A little bit…"

* * *

He sat, bouncing his knee out of sheer nervousness and restlessness as he stared at the front door. He just kept waiting for it to open and for Lucy to walk in, because there were things he needed to say to her. So many things. Important things, too. Important things that he really, really hoped she said yes to, because her saying yes to a couple of things was his solution.

Granted, it was a solution he probably should have thought about first (sort of) instead of worrying about whether long distance could work or if Lucy would hate him if he stayed for a little while longer or something. But Bickslow was just telling himself that what mattered now, was that he'd thought of it at all.

It was a great solution, too. Or at least Bickslow thought so. It was a solution that would _hopefully_ make it so he wouldn't have to ever choose again, because if Lucy was in Crocus with him, he'd have the two things he wanted most. He figured it was okay to be a _little_ selfish and _not_ want to lose the love of his life (which he had realised Lucy was, obviously) if he was becoming a doctor and all.

He had to ask her that night, though. Even when he knew she was busy, since it was the night before her graduation and she only had a few more days to be out of the sorority house, he had to ask her that night. He was leaving for Crocus in a week, and he still had a few more things to sort out before he left, so he just didn't have the time to wait and ask her another time. And even if Lucy did want to go with him, Bickslow knew she wouldn't be able to leave in a week. That was too soon. But that was okay, because really, all he needed to know was whether or not she would want to be there with him at some point in the near future.

But waiting was just making him _so_ nervous.

But then the door opened, and Bickslow got up so quickly he almost tripped over the coffee table in front of him. "H-Hey!" he said, trying to pretend he was _somewhat_ calm as he hopped over the boxes in the living room that his mother was supposed to be shipping off to Crocus after he'd left.

"Hey yourself," Lucy replied. She set her bag down on one of the boxes and let herself be guided over to the lounge. "Sorry I'm late, by the way. I know you said eight, but the sorority was having their own ceremony and I couldn't get away."

"It's fine, really. Don't worry about it. But look, there's, uh… There's something I want to talk to you about."

Her face fell, though she tried to hide it. She knew what was coming – what was happening right then – and as much as she'd been trying to make herself ready for it, she wasn't. Lucy had hoped it wouldn't have to happen at all, that Bickslow would ask her to go to Crocus with him; but she'd waited and he never did, and that only left one thing. She didn't expect it to be right then, either, but maybe it was for the best that it was. It would probably make their goodbye a little easier if they just got it over and done with now, rather than when he actually left for Crocus in a week…

She only nodded and looked down to her hands held between Bickslow's. She had been in a good mood, being excited about graduating… But now, not so much…

Bickslow wasn't really looking forward to what he had to say – not the first part, anyway, since it meant telling her that he'd lied, sort of. But he had to do it. "I just um… I just want you to know that I really love you, okay? You know how much I do," Bickslow began. "But I kind of lied to you, I guess… And I'm really sorry for that, Lucy. I just… I couldn't tell you before because I still didn't know what I was doing and I wanted to have some kind of plan before I talked to you about any of it…"

 _Lied to me? How?_ "Bickslow… I don't understand," she whispered.

"I… put off my application for med school intentionally."

"I know that—"

"Because I wanted to stay here. With you," he admitted. He didn't give Lucy a chance to say anything before he continued, "And sure, I know I shouldn't have because we'd only been together for a couple of months when I should have started applying, but I'm just… I'm an optimist. You know that."

Lucy did know that… And she wanted to be happy – strangely – that he'd believed they'd work out even back then, but she couldn't right then.

"But then it worked out anyway, I guess," Bickslow continued. "Because by the time I graduated and got in, I _couldn't_ leave. I couldn't move to Crocus because you were here."

But he was moving anyway. And that hurt Lucy, because she didn't really want him to but she knew it was what he had to do.

"I thought about staying, too. You know, I thought about not moving and just staying here with you after you graduated, or just… Or going with you back to Magnolia or something, if that was what you wanted to do. Because I thought about choosing you. Over everything, I would've chosen you. Every time."

Lucy shook her head. "You can't," she whimpered. Bickslow couldn't choose her over moving. That just wasn't fair.

"I know I can't," Bickslow said softly. "Because I know you'd hate me if I stayed, because that's not fair. But it's what I'd do, because I don't want to leave you, and I know that if I moved, even if we tried doing the whole long distance thing, it wouldn't work out, because that kind of thing never does."

"I-It's okay. I… I understand…"

It was only then that Bickslow picked up on the fact that she was crying. When had _that_ started? He wasn't very good at dealing with tears, but right then, it was just so much worse. "Jesus, Lucy… Come on, you're not supposed to be crying." He only quickly looked around the room for the tissues before spying the box on the dining table behind the lounge, then got up and climbed over the back of it to grab them and hand them to Lucy. "Really, you're not supposed to be crying right now," Bickslow sighed as he sat back down and wrapped his arms around her. "Tell me why. Please."

She sniffled as she reached for another tissue. "B-Because I know we h-have t-to break up, because y-you're moving a-and you can't stay, and I don't w-want you to stay b-because of m-me—"

"Wait, wait, hold on." He pushed her away suddenly and only stared at her with a confused expression. "Who said anything about breaking up? I'm asking you to marry me, you nerd." Well, that was where he'd been getting to, but still. That was the entire point of her being there right then. Though to be perfectly honest, he was half expecting her to say no, because it was coming so out of the blue, but that was fine. It was just one of those things he had to go all in on, and it was something he knew he wanted.

But if she said no to that, he wouldn't be devastated. He was more interested in asking her to move with him first.

"You… W-What?" Was she hallucinating? Daydreaming? Probably. She was just a little giddy from being so close to graduating, but there was just no way she'd heard that.

He scratched the back of his head and grimaced. "Yeah… That wasn't exactly how I'd planned on saying that," he mumbled. "Also, now that I think about it, I guess it kinda does seem like I was breaking up with you… But I'm not, I promise! Or at least I hope we don't, 'cause, you know, I really, _really_ love you, and I know we've only been together for like, two years now, but I've loved them. I really have. Even when you assume the worst of me sometimes. Like now, because really, do you actually think I'm _capable_ of breaking up with you? Come on, that's impossible."

Well, it wasn't like she would be capable of it, either… "I suppose that's true…" she said with a watery laugh, because she kind of had just assumed the worst again. She did that a lot, admittedly.

"But I, uh… I don't want to have to choose, you know?" Bickslow said. "Because if I could, I really would choose you. But I know I can't, and I know you don't want me to, so I'm not. I'm not going to choose between you and moving to Crocus because I just can't do it. That's why I'm asking you to come with me."

"To… To Crocus?"

Bickslow nodded. "And I know it's a lot to ask, especially now since I'm leaving in a week either way, but… But if you did want to come with me, you wouldn't have to come right away. I know you'd have things to sort out here, and back in Magnolia since I know you have all of that stuff in storage still… But it's Crocus. You know, you could do anything and be anything there. You could… You could be an English teacher like you said you wanted to be, or maybe even go back to school and get your master's or something if that was what you wanted." He dropped his hands from her cheeks to pat down his pockets, then turned for the coffee table to lift papers and move things around, looking for the damn _ring_ he had had like ten minutes earlier. "And um, I just figured that since I was bound to eventually ask you to marry me anyway – well, if you moved with me, I guess – that it was a good time to ask you that now. I got a ring, too, because I'm a bit of a moron but I just _had_ to. I just… Where the fucking hell did I—"

Except Bickslow didn't get to finish his sentence before he found himself landing painfully on the floor between the lounge and the coffee table, and with Lucy, of course, on top of him, and the cause for him being on the floor at all.

"Lucy, what the—"

"You mean this one?" She managed to sit up slightly once Bickslow had shifted beneath her and wasn't uncomfortably contorted on his side (her fault, she would admit, but it had just been so necessary), then tucked her hair back behind her ears and held up the small box she had apparently been sitting on – she'd wondered why the cushion had been a little pointy.

"Ah, yeah. That one."

"It's gorgeous," she whispered, sniffling again. The guy had nice taste in jewellery, apparently. "My answer is yes, by the way."

Bickslow blinked. "Wait, to what?"

"To both, of course." How could she _not_ say yes? It was like the simplest question with the easiest answer in the whole world to her. She'd been wanting him to ask her to move with him, because she had wanted to go to Crocus with him, so how could she refuse to go when it was offered to her? And marrying him… Well, that was just a given, because Bickslow was her family and Lucy couldn't imagine anything nicer than marrying him and having their own family.

Well, at some point.

She didn't want to be breaking up with him. Not even close.

"But I… I didn't even really ask!" he pointed out. "Well, I mean I asked you to come to Crocus, but I didn't exactly get to ask you to marry me. I had a whole speech thing planned, too, you know."

Lucy shrugged and threw the now empty ring box back onto the lounge, the ring sitting _very_ comfortably on her finger. "Then tell me your grand speech, Bix," she whispered.

"I've basically forgotten it now anyway," he mumbled. And it wasn't grand at all. It was really just some nonsense (well, not nonsense, but it was generic) about how he loved her and wanted to be with her because she was the love of his life. Pretty boring stuff. And really, considering she'd already said yes, was there really any point of saying any of it? Probably not. "But you… You said yes."

"Problem?"

Bickslow shook his head as he sat and leaned back on his hands. "Nope. Not at all. I was just going to say that you didn't have to give me an answer right away. I really just needed to know if you'd move to Crocus with me."

"Of course I would go with you," Lucy said softly, letting her hands fall over his shoulders. "And I really don't need any time to think on it. I will _gladly_ marry you, you dork." There were worse ways to spend one's life, anyway.

From the hall, Olexa only silently peeked around the corner just as Lucy lightly pressed her lips to Bickslow's. She was taking that as a good sign, though she was stopping herself from just running in and asking if it meant Lucy did say yes (and teasing her son about blonde grandbabies _again_ ). She'd known not to interrupt, so instead, she'd only eavesdropped as much as she could.

But still, there was just one thing she wanted to ask… "Why are you two on the floor?"

* * *

Graduation was done and dusted, and Lucy was finally the proud owner of one degree. Her time at Hargeon University had come to a close, and she was really so very happy about it. She had much bigger and better things to look forward to now.

Only fanning her face lightly with her hand – sitting in a black gown in the sun for a couple of hours was not nice – Lucy weaved her way through the crowd in search of her makeshift family. It would've been nice if her own parents had been alive to see her graduate, but she knew they were proud of her – or at least they would be. But she had the Almas now, and that was enough.

She spotted Bickslow first (it was hard not to, he was so tall), then she saw that he was talking to Gajeel and Levy, and by the time she was reaching them, Olexa was joining them from the opposite direction. "I'm free at last!" Lucy exclaimed dramatically, hands up above her head before her heel got stuck in the grass and she almost tripped.

"Watch yourself, Cosplayer," Bickslow chuckled. She'd already almost tripped going up the stairs to the stage with everyone else, and he'd had to put a hand over his mouth just to stop himself from laughing out loud. He only wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her forehead before taking the file from her hand when he turned. "Proud of you though, you smartass. You know I'm putting this shit on the wall though, right?" Of course he was going to put it on a wall when she graduates with a higher average than he did. Honestly, he was really fucking proud of her.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "No, you're not."

"Try and stop me."

She stopped listening once Bickslow started going on about how there was apparently a really nice exposed brick wall in the apartment that would be perfect for it – although she did hear Gajeel tell him to just shut up – and instead just let her soon to be mother-in-law hug her. Lucy had come to like Olexa's hugs over the last two years.

"Well done, sweetheart," Olexa said softly. "You know how proud I am of you. And it has been an honour and a pleasure teaching and _knowing_ you for the last three years. Truly." She couldn't even imagine a better person to be her daughter-in-law… But Olexa did find it just a little entertaining (Bickslow, not so much) that she had known Lucy longer than Bickslow himself had.

"Thank you, Olexa. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher, either."

Olexa excused herself then – professor duties and all – and Lucy turned to face Levy with just a small and slightly sad smile. It wasn't the same as it had been when Levy and the others graduated, and Lucy knew that Levy knew that too. Back then, it hadn't felt quite so much like a goodbye, and it hadn't been at all because none of them had been going anywhere. But now it felt like a goodbye, because it kind of was one. All that was left was just a few weeks before she'd be a thousand miles away from her best friend.

"You're moving to Crocus with Bix, aren't you?" Levy asked almost sadly once it was her turn to hug her best friend. She'd been wondering what would happen once Lucy graduated – whether she'd stay or go with Bickslow – but she'd just been so busy over the last few weeks that they hadn't even really had time to talk to each other.

"Yeah," Lucy answered. "Not for a few more weeks, though."

"I want to say that I wish you weren't going, but I'm happy for you, I am! I'll miss you, though, Luce…"

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Shrimp, come on," he sighed. "It's a two-hour flight. She's not moving a goddamn lightyear away."

"I know, I know…"

"And besides," Lucy began, smiling at the woman when she stepped back. "It's not like we won't ever see each other again. I'll call you so much you'll be _glad_ I'm gone. I'm going to need a maid of honour, too, so you'll have to come visit and help me plan—"

"Wait, what? Maid of honour? You… No! Really?!"

Gajeel only gave Bickslow a look as their respective partners started giggling and squealing about weddings. Bickslow shrugged then. "What? Don't judge me."

"Not judgin' you…" Gajeel mumbled as he shook his head. "But you were gonna ask me to be your best man though, right?"

"…Probably."

"Good."

"But anyway," Lucy said once she and Levy had somewhat calmed down… Sort of. "I know you two were busy today, but I'm so, _so_ glad you could make it."

Levy smiled softly. "Like I'd miss my best friend's graduation."

Gajeel shrugged. "Levy dragged me—" An elbow to his side from Bickslow had him quickly changing his tone. "But I guess you're kind of like a sister-in-law to me now so…" And when Lucy hugged him, he just sighed and let it happen.

"I still know you have other things you need to be doing right now, but I just wanted to thank you for being here, because I love you both and you're like family to me. So thank you," Lucy said kindly. She knew Levy was a little behind in her study, and she knew Gajeel was supposed to be working that afternoon, but she was really just glad that she'd gotten to see them at all, even if it had just been for a few minutes. "For now, though…" She looked up to Bickslow beside her as his arm went around her middle again. "I believe you promised me ice-cream before you said you'd come help me finish packing my things here."

"I did, did I?" Bickslow murmured.

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, I suppose we should go and get ice-cream then."

And so after saying goodbye to their friends, they made their way through the still gathered crowd of now alumni. It had really just seemed fitting to Bickslow that the very first thing they'd done when they'd started dating would be one of the last they did in Hargeon together before moving.

Plus… It was ice-cream, and when her Dork Lord was offering ice-cream, who was Lucy to refuse? She hoped there'd be nice places in Crocus to get ice-cream together, too.

* * *

 _I know this one chapter felt a little rushed, especially the ending, but... That's just how it turned out. There was a lot to get through, kind of, and I didn't want to make it super long (plus I was incapable of doing so)._

 _I wanted this to be the actual ending too, rather than the epilogue, so here's hoping it kind of worked out. Anyway, for those that have read my other stories, you can probably guess what the epilogue will entail. Because I'm predictable. I hadn't exactly intended on this fic going down this particular route in the end, but I just couldn't help myself..._

 _For now, I, as usual, hope you enjoyed this chapter._

 _\- April_


	11. Chapter 11 (Epilogue)

The fact that Lucy really only ever saw Bickslow at night or on the odd weekend had never really bothered her much. Admittedly, she'd probably be much happier if she got to see more of her husband, but she couldn't complain; she _wouldn't_ complain. How could she complain about her dork of a husband being gone so much when he was taking care of people and saving them? She just couldn't.

Even when it wasn't all bad, because they still made plenty of time for each other with rare days off and nights still mostly being free, there were still other times Lucy missed Bickslow a lot. And sometimes, she really did wish that he wasn't gone from what felt like sunrise to sunset every day of the week.

But it was another one of those times where Lucy was missing Bickslow a lot more than she usually did. Most of the time when she missed him, it was just because it was one of their birthdays, or their anniversary which Bickslow always seemed to end up being on call for, or, most likely, it was just because she'd had a horrible day or week at work – teenagers were annoying creatures, especially when they weren't interested in learning – and she wanted nothing more than to curl up on the lounge with her husband instead of their cat for a change (not that she didn't love the lazy ball of fur, because she did). But that time, Lucy wasn't missing Bickslow for any of those reasons. Not really, anyway.

That time it was just that she missed talking to him, because he'd been so busy over the last few weeks and his days and nights had just been so long that whenever he did get home, all he did was sleep. It kind of made it hard for Lucy to tell him that they'd somehow made a baby in what little time they'd had with each other over the last few weeks where Bickslow had actually been _awake_.

It was a good thing, though. A little unexpected, maybe, but it wasn't like they weren't ready for a kid. They'd been together for nearly a decade at that point – seven of those years _very_ happily married – and they were at good points in their lives. Bickslow only had a little over a year left of his residency and even when the hours were long, they weren't half as bad as they had been when he'd been an intern or a second year, and Lucy was happy where she was, too. She was happy about having a baby as well, and she wanted Bickslow to be happy, too.

It was just finding the opportunity to tell him that was the problem. She'd tried doing so already on multiple occasions, but each time had been the wrong time, apparently, because it had either been when Bickslow had been getting back and just heading straight for the shower and then bed, or he'd be rushing out the door in the morning to make it to beat the traffic. She couldn't tell him when he was half asleep or too busy trying to get ready for work. It was too important for that.

Lucy knew she had to tell Bickslow at some point though. It wasn't the kind of thing she could just surprise him with a few months down the track… _'Oh, yeah, I've actually been pregnant this whole time. Surprise!'_ He was bound to find out on his own at some point, anyway – she didn't look it then, but she would eventually.

But maybe she should just tell him straight out. Maybe she shouldn't wait for when he wasn't half asleep or rushing out the door, because that probably wouldn't be for a while, anyway.

So Lucy nodded to herself as she continued scrubbing the dishes from the previous night. It was decided: she would tell Bickslow she was pregnant the next time she saw him. He was due home soon anyway, she figured, since he'd been gone since the previous morning as it was – not that it was _that_ out of the ordinary for him to be gone for that long.

Except Lucy had been too busy trying to figure out just _how_ she would tell Bickslow, that she didn't even hear the door open or know he'd gotten home until he was walking into the kitchen and coming up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, lightly pressing a kiss to her cheek and letting his chin rest on her shoulder.

"Don't be," Lucy replied softly. "It's okay."

"It isn't really. I know you wanted to do something last night, and I really wanted to be here 'cause I missed our anniversary last year, too…" _And the year before that… And before that… And before that._ "But I'm really sorry, Lucy. I'll try and be here next year. I promise. I've got a day off next week. I'll make up for it then."

Lucy nodded, and quickly drying her hands on the towel, she turned for the fridge, all while Bickslow kept her arms around her and his chin on her shoulder. "Do you want something to eat?" she asked, and she felt him shake his head slightly.

"Nah. Got something before I left," Bickslow mumbled. "How was your night though? Miss me much?"

"You know I did, you dork. But it was quiet. Only ordered takeout and marked some papers while watching a movie."

"Mm. That sounds _so_ good." He really missed his lazy days.

"What about your night?"

He sighed into her neck as he kept following her around the kitchen, still not letting go of her – she smelled like _home_ , which as it turns out, smelled really fucking great. Better than a hospital, anyway. "Long. And depressing," Bickslow answered after a moment before adding, "I don't think I want to try and do a paediatric fellowship when I'm done with my residency, though."

Lucy glanced back to him. Bickslow had always said he'd enjoyed the paediatric rotation every other year, and had mentioned that he might try and get a fellowship at the end of his residency… But now, apparently not. It was suddenly making her nervous, too. "No?"

"No. It sucks when kids die. Especially babies. And telling their parents is really hard, too," he sighed.

"O-Oh…" Now, Lucy was only worrying about _their_ child dying. That was a horrible thought. And she knew that Bickslow didn't really mean to make her upset by it, but she was, and she only sniffled quietly and lifted a hand to quickly brush away the few tears that had fallen onto her cheek, right as the toast popped up in front of her.

Bickslow noticed it, too. "Hey, you okay? What's wrong?"

Lucy shook her head. "N-Nothing," she lied… sort of. She couldn't very well tell him _now_ that she was pregnant. It really wasn't a good time to do so, especially if he'd had a bad night at work. "It's just sad, because they're just children and they're so young…"

"Yeah, I know it is. Which is why when _we_ have a kid, I'm probably going to end up bubble wrapping them so nothing can hurt them."

"You know that wouldn't actually stop them from getting sick…"

"I know, but I'll still try." He looked down when he felt the cat – the one called Pineapple because they'd gotten drunk at Gajeel and Levy's wedding and woken up in their hotel room with a kitten and a pineapple – circling his legs, and stepped back from Lucy just to pick the feline up. "Anyway," he began, sighing. "I'm working tonight, too, so I'll be here for a few hours this afternoon after you get back from work."

Lucy nodded. _Maybe I can tell him when I get back from work…_ At least Bickslow would be awake then. Picking up one of the pieces of buttered toast, she offered it to Bickslow. "Here, eat this anyway." Bickslow only rolled his eyes and accepted it between his teeth – his hands were otherwise occupied by the giant cat. "You don't eat enough."

"You still trying to fatten me up?" Bickslow chuckled once he'd moved Pineapple to be tucked in his arm so he had one hand free.

Really, though, Lucy was always trying to make him eat when he was home. Granted, he didn't eat much when he was on duty because he didn't really have that much time to, but he still couldn't help but joke about it. Bickslow wouldn't ever complain about the fact his wife liked _over_ -feeding him at times, though. Not ever in a million years, because she made _the_ best comfort food ever.

"Maybe." _It'll make me feel better about myself, at least._ "But I'll see you later, okay?" she said, quickly rising up onto her toes to press her lips to his. "Go and get some rest."

"Uh-huh. Rest sounds good." So Bickslow turned with his toast and his cat and headed towards the hall, and he only added over his shoulder before he was out of the kitchen, "Don't let the moronic teenagers boss you around again, Cosplayer."

She wouldn't, though. Well… She'd _try_ not to.

* * *

It was a very rare occurrence for Bickslow and Lucy to both be home during the day, much less the same day. But that was how it was that particular day. Bickslow had one of his rare days off, and Lucy was taking her second day of that week alone off from work. She never took days off, though. Bickslow could remember the last time she'd taken a day or two off work, and it had been three years earlier. So to say he was curious to find out just why she was taking her second day off that week would be an understatement.

He'd been watching her, too, of course (from a distance since she snapped at him whenever he asked if she was sick and needed to see a doctor), mostly because he was worried about her. She downright refused to go see a doctor every time he'd asked if she needed to go see one, always saying that it really wasn't necessary. So he'd given up on trying to get her to see a doctor.

But he still watched her. And on that day, where it was one of those days where they did absolutely nothing because it was a rare day off, he watched her more than usual. Just… from the other side of the room, because she'd been a little terrifying over the last week or so. When she wasn't ignoring him, she was either crying and hugging the cat, or yelling at him. He'd even called his mother at one point during the week because he'd been so confused and worried he'd done something wrong and he'd hoped that Lucy had complained about him to his mother (because they were like best friend or something, and Bickslow was pretty convinced that Lucy talked to his mother more than he did), but she'd only said that Lucy was perfectly fine and it would all make sense soon enough.

Because Lucy had, of course, told her mother-in-law they were having a baby. She'd even told Gajeel and Levy, just because she'd needed to tell _someone_ since she hadn't been able to tell Bickslow yet.

But it was Olexa's comment that gave Bickslow his first hint to what his terrifying wife's newfound condition was. And then he was thinking back and trying to see if it fit.

First, there was the crying.

Then the yelling, followed by even more crying.

Then there was the throwing up…

And the days off…

And then there was the fact that Bickslow knew she'd been trying to tell him something over the last month, but each time she'd brought up that there was something they needed to talk about, he'd always just said he was too tired and that they could talk about it in the morning or when he got back from work. But they never talked about it…

Bickslow was pretty sure he knew what that something was. And as he sat on one end of the lounge eating his breakfast, Pineapple sprawled across his lap and covering him in cat hair, and watching Lucy eat her cookies and cream ice-cream down the other end of the lounge, Bickslow just couldn't help himself. He figured the worst that could happen was that he'd offend her and she'd cry and yell at him some more, and he'd just spend the rest of the day making it up to her because he was probably like the worst husband in the entire world sometimes.

Best case… Well, Bickslow wasn't sure if there was a best case yet, apart from the obvious, of course. So he just came out with it. "Are you pregnant?"

Lucy looked away from the T.V. screen just to glare at him. She still was, thankfully. She'd had her first appointment, too, not that she'd told Bickslow about that because she'd just seen no point in doing so, because really, she'd kind of just given up on telling him. Lucy knew she shouldn't have, because Bickslow really needed to know, but she'd just tried so many times, and he was always just too busy, too tired, or he'd had a horrible time at work and it was just a _really_ bad time to find out.

She hadn't been able to stop herself from getting a little bitter about it, though. And the fact that Bickslow was actually asking her right then really just seemed to piss her off for some reason. "Why would you think that?" she responded bitterly, turning her attention back to the show she knew Bickslow hated with a burning passion.

"Well…" _Is that a no? Do I continue? Probably not._ "For starters," he began, ignoring the part of his brain that said shutting up would be safer. "You're eating ice-cream at nine in the morning, and you eat ice-cream when you're feeling sick."

One point to Bickslow.

"Plus, you're, uh… moody," he added cautiously.

Lucy only glared at him again. Two points to Bickslow.

"You kept saying there was something we needed to talk about, too, but I guess I didn't really let you…"

Well, Lucy had to give him credit for the fact that he wasn't completely oblivious to her efforts.

"And, it's kind of my job to know when there's something wrong with someone, so…"

"Are you saying there's something wrong with me?" Lucy asked.

"No! No, not at all." He still hadn't quite grown out of the terrible habit he had of saying the wrong things to Lucy at the wrong time. Most of the time she just laughed at him now, but this time, she was not laughing. Not at all. Bickslow cleared his throat before continuing, "I just mean that I've been, you know, paying attention. And that's just what my guess is." There was, of course, always the possibility he was wrong. His wife who he adored to pieces could very just be sick and moody for the sake of it – it wouldn't surprise him if she was. Though he did wish it wasn't just that.

Lucy had known Bickslow would eventually find out, though she'd never quite expected him to go all _doctor_ on her even though that was what she should have expected, since he quite literally got paid to know if someone was sick. Though, Lucy did have to admit she was glad that he hadn't gone full clinical on her and treated her like a patient in a case. That probably would have made her cry, to be honest.

But Lucy wasn't in the mood to do anything other just shrug and continue eating her ice-cream and watch her show. "Well, your guess is right," she mumbled. She was still happy about being pregnant, of course, but she was still a little mad at her husband, so that was all he was going to get from her for the moment.

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Oh. Cool," Bickslow shrugged. Then he turned back to the T.V. and went back to absentmindedly watching Lucy's stupid show. Except that didn't last for long, because Bickslow was soon becoming aware of the downright frightening glare that Lucy was aiming at him. He was just a little scared right then. "…What? Why are you looking at me like that?" He couldn't help but try and tuck himself into the corner of the lounge even more.

"Is that really it?" Lucy asked. " _'Cool'_?" How could that possibly be it? She had expected a whole lot more than just ' _cool_ ' from Bickslow.

But it really had just been the first thing that had come into his head. It was cool, though. It was very cool. And super awesome. So he only shrugged again before he pushed Pineapple off of his lap so he could go and put his breakfast dishes in the sink.

"Wait, Bickslow! Don't walk away from me right now, damn it!" she shouted. Hell, how could he even walk away right then? Did that mean he didn't care? Was he not happy? _Of course he's happy._ He was just being stupid.

But really, surely his stupid brain could have come up with something a little better than ' _cool_.' Lucy didn't like that that was the response he had deemed appropriate, because it wasn't appropriate. Not even close.

Bickslow did know that, too. Which is why when he came back into their lounge room, he sat back down next to his wife who was obviously not very happy with him, took her ice-cream away from her (temporarily), and then pulled her onto his lap to wrap his arms as tightly around her as he could manage.

"Bickslow."

He only shook his head at her slightly threatening tone. "Nope. No escaping just yet."

"I will hurt you," she warned.

"No you won't." Well, she probably would, considering her mood, but for now, all Bickslow wanted to do was hug his terrifying wife. "But I'm sorry," Bickslow said. "For a lot of things, really, like how I didn't even really let you tell me. But _'cool'_ was not the right thing to say. So I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "You think?"

"I'm not taking it back, though. 'Cause it is cool. It's really cool. And super awesome. And so, _so_ amazing. And I'm internally freaking out right now because _holy fucking shit_ we're having a baby?!"

"Yeah," Lucy laughed. That was a _much_ better reaction. "In about seven or so months now."

"That's pretty cool though."

That time, Lucy couldn't help but agree. "I suppose it is."

* * *

It was a slow and quiet night at the hospital for Bickslow. Well, sort of, anyway - or at least it was quiet by his standards. He was just helping out in the emergency room since he'd had nothing else to do that was more important. He figured stitching up some guy's arm from a bar fight was better than sleeping because he had nowhere else to be – all of his patients were fine, no one was dying (yet), and for once, all of his paperwork and patient notes were done.

Besides, Bickslow really liked the emergency department, anyway. He spent half of his time there on consults, and sometimes, the things people came in for were pretty entertaining. He never laughed though. Oh no. That would be unprofessional, especially since he was the chief resident now and he was most _definitely_ a professional.

Well, when he was at work, that was. As soon as he was past those doors, he still acted like he was the twenty-something Lucy had married.

Though the guy whose arm he was stitching up told some pretty great jokes, and Bickslow couldn't help but laugh at those. It made his night a little more fun that way too.

"Doctor Alma?"

Bickslow only glanced up to see Juvia standing at the foot of the patient's bed with a worried look on her face. "Yeah, Juvs?"

"When is Lucy due again?" Juvia asked. She'd known Bickslow since they'd both been interns at the hospital, and they'd been on almost every single rotation together for the last four and a half years. The guy was basically her best friend at that point, so it was only natural that she be close friends with his wife, too, and she was, of course, very excited to meet their little one as well. Juvia knew it would be soon, but _exactly_ how soon… That, she didn't quite know.

"In about a week," Bickslow answered. "Why?"

She pointed to the other side of the large room, past the nurses' station in the middle and to the woman who let out an all too familiar groan on the gurney that was being pushed down the hall and towards the elevator, no doubt. Juvia didn't even need to say anything for Bickslow to know what she meant.

"No… Was that…? _Really?_ " he asked. Juvia nodded, and Bickslow only looked back to his patient who really just looked a little confused before he finished up with that part of the sutures and quickly pulled off his gloves to pull his phone from his pocket. There were, of course, more than a few missed calls from Lucy, as well as some more than colourful messages, and Bickslow was beginning to think he shouldn't have set his phone to silent, because he was very much sure that it was Lucy who had been the one on the bed. "Uh… Right. Shit."

"Problem?" the patient asked.

"Um. No. I mean yes, maybe." There was sort of a problem. Because he was busy being a doctor and all, but Lucy was probably in labour, which meant he would really, _really_ rather be there instead of stitching up some guy's arm. But he was working… And he couldn't be in two places at once.

There was a loud sigh from behind him, and Bickslow swivelled on the stool to look towards his attending at the nurses' station filling out another patient's chart. "Lockser can finish up with the sutures," the attending said. "You have somewhere else to be."

"But… But what if—"

"Don't make me say it again."

Bickslow nodded and got up quickly, almost tripping over himself in the process. "Right, yes. Thank you, Doctor Fernandes," he said quickly, and he barely heard the patient yell out congratulations as Juvia quickly explained, before he was off to find Lucy.

* * *

Bickslow got both of his wishes granted that night.

One, he got to be in an operating room (because the baby had gotten far too comfortable the _wrong_ way up), not that he actually got to help or anything because that wasn't his job and it wasn't what he was there for at all – though he did get to make Lucy wish she could have punched him at one point, because _no_ , her uterus is _not_ sexy.

And two, they had a girl, which made Bickslow incredibly happy.

And for once, Bickslow was more than fine with just sitting and doing nothing. He was always so busy and always on his feet, and he _enjoyed_ that. But now, all he wanted to do was sit and enjoy the silence for a little while, because his daughter just fit so perfectly in his arms and he loved that.

But… The daughter who fit so perfectly in his arms needed a name. "So, my _Super_ Amazing Cosplayer…"

"Yes, Dork Lord?" Lucy whispered.

"What do you think we should call her?"

She shrugged. A name wasn't something they'd talked about at all, strangely, but she did have a few she'd been _thinking_ about. "I like Addison."

"Addison Heartfilia-Alma," Bickslow murmured, and then he looked back down to his daughter in his arms with another smile before grabbing a pen from his pocket to write it on the nameplate. "I think you're an Addison, kid."

* * *

 _And now it is officially complete. And I did say I'm predictable, so of course the epilogue was going to go here. I live for the BixLu babies. I must write them all._

 _Anyway. I was kind of debating writing this chapter at all. It wasn't necessary in the slightest, but I wanted to write it, so I did. Still... I'm not happy with it. I spent more time deleting entire parts from this than actually writing it, and I probably could have done that for a lot longer, but I still wouldn't have been happy with it. But it's just one of those stories too, I guess. It's not even close to being one of my favourites, but that being said, I still hope everyone who actually followed/favourited this actually enjoyed it._

 _On another note, this will be my last update for any of my stories for a little while. There's a note on my profile about it, too, but basically I just... don't feel like sharing/updating anything right now. I'll get over myself eventually, but for now, I'm just not interested in updating anything. I'll still be writing new chapters for things of course, and I'll update the stories that need updating once I'm not quite so discouraged (that's really what it comes down to lol)._

 _I just wanted to put that here just in case any readers of my other stories read this one too..._

 _Anyway. That is all for this. I hope you enjoyed this one. Thank you for the reviews, favourites, follows, and thank you for even reading it, I guess._

 _\- April_


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